Dominic Thiem - local hero instead of fear opponent
Dominic Thiem will face Denis Shapovalov at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal on Wednesday. The Canadian beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert in two sets.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Aug 06, 2019, 09:50 am
Dominic Thiem has often emphasized that he prefers to play in a full stadium that is set against him than in front of an empty grandstand. Well, this wish will be granted to the 25-year-old from Lower Austria on Wednesday when he makes his first appearance at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal: Thiem opens against Denis Shapovalov, who defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert on Monday evening (local time) with 6: 3 and 7: 5 prevailed.
Another point that Thiem can probably live with: The newly crowned Kitzbühel champion has played twice against the French, lost just as often, most recently at the beginning of the year in Doha. The sample against Shapovalov is even smaller, Dominic Thiem has measured himself against the Canadian for the first time: 2018 in Acapulco, at that time the left-hander could not take a stab.
Shapovalov in Miami in the semi-finals
The year 2019 is not going as desired for Denis Shapovalov, the success against Herbert has balanced his match record with 16 wins and as many losses. The last victory before that was in Lyon in round one against Ugo Humbert, a long time ago. But the hard court is still better for the 20-year-old, he was already in the semi-finals in Miami this year, losing there against Roger Federer.
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As is well known, the Swiss is missing in Montreal, as is Novak Djokovic. Dominic Thiem is now in second place in a tournament in this category, only Rafael Nadal is still ahead of him. After his final victory in Kitzbühel, Thiem headed to Montreal on Sunday to contest the first training session with Fabio Fognini.
Thiem still victorious in Canada
A reunion with the Italian would be very desirable, because it would take place in the final. With a view to the Canadian history of Thiem, however, a daring goal: the current fourth in the world rankings is still waiting for the first match victory in Toronto or Montreal.
Denis Shapovalov is already there, celebrated his coming out on the tennis scene two years ago, right here in the Olympic city of 1976. Back then, the local hero beat Rafael Nadal along with others on the way to the semi-finals, but had to fight the later champion Alexander Zverev add small.