Erste Bank Open: Dominic Thiem - "The best I've ever played here"
Dominic Thiem is bursting with self-confidence after his second round win over Fernando Verdasco at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. That should be felt in the quarterfinals (Friday, not before 15:30 clock) and Pablo Carreno Busta .
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Oct 25, 2019, 08:58 am
by Nikolaus Fink from the Wiener Stadthalle
No, it was certainly not easy, the draw for Dominic Thiem for the first two rounds of the Erste Bank Open. The Austrian met Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the opening round, and then got involved with Fernando Verdasco in the second round - before the ATP-500 tournament in Vienna, he had not won either match against either of them.
But Thiem is still at his home tournament - especially the victory against the experienced Spaniard Verdasco after set back record of the dazzling condition in which the 26-year-old is currently.
Inviolable with its own serve
"It was a great match, and at the beginning you saw that I had a poor record, so I came in better and made better use of my punches, which was the biggest key," Thiem said at the post-match press conference. "Victories after set arrears are always rare, so this is a good feeling today."
After the weak start, the world ranked fifth increased enormously, with his own serve he gave in the sets two and three together only a single point. An indication of how well Thiem currently feels on the pitch. The Austrian himself even declared: My first two games were strong. That was the best thing I've ever played here. "
In the quarter-finals (Friday, from 15:30 clock in Tennisnet liveticker ) is now for the Lichtenwörther for the first time in the semi-finals of the tournament in Vienna. Thiem faces Pablo Carreno Busta in the second match of the day, beating him 6-0 in Head to Head.
Audience pushes Thiem
"His form is very good at the moment, he is back on track towards the top ten, he has no serious weakness and he is full from the first to the last point and I will be back full right from the first point and with the same aggression as in the last race the Austrians despite the immaculate record to the strengths of the Spaniard knows.
skywien
Nevertheless, Thiem will go into the quarter-finals as the clear favorite. But the 26-year-old does not want to look too far ahead: "I really only look from match to match." This event is too busy to speak of the tournament victory. "
That the local fans want to whip the local hero to just that, is obvious. Thiem himself explicitly emphasized the importance of the audience after the match against Verdasco: "It sure helped me that 9000 people stood behind me today and caused a stir." The top seeded Lower Austrian can rely on Carreno Busta as well - the Wiener Stadthalle is completely sold out.