Erste Bank Open draw: Dominic Thiem and the possible dream quarter-finals
Dominic Thiem starts his mission to defend his title at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna against the Japanese Kei Nishikori . In the quarter-finals there could be a blast against Andrey Rublev .
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Oct 25, 2020, 07:49 am
By Michael Rothschädl from the Wiener Stadthalle
If you look at the first round games of the Erste Bank Open, you think more of a Grand Slam round of 16 than an ATP 500 event. Grigor Dimitrov against Karen Khachanov, Pablo Carreño Busta against Gael Monfils, Daniil Medvedev against Alex de Minaur and Dominic Thiem against Kei Nishikori - the few spectators in the Wiener Stadthalle can look forward to a veritable flood of top matches on Monday and Tuesday.
Next to Novak Djokovic, the most anticipated player is undoubtedly defending champion Dominic Thiem, who is fighting for another home win at the Erste Bank Open. On the way there, there are some tough tasks to be done, especially Kei Nishikori without a start. The Japanese knows what it feels like to win against Dominic Thiem in Vienna, as he beat the Austrian in two straight sets in the quarter-finals in 2018.
The omens before the upcoming first-round clash are completely different this time. Dominic Thiem travels to his homeland with the wind of the first Grand Slam title, Kei Nishikori is still looking for his form after a COVID-19 infection at the start of the tour. The Japanese wanted to achieve two victories in his four appearances since September, most recently at the French Open in round two.
Wawrinka far from top form
The hurdle in round two is also extremely high on paper. With Stan Wawrinka, a triple Grand Slam champion could wait if the Swiss prevailed against the clay court specialist Cristian Garin. Like Nishikori, Wawrinka, with whom Thiem recently started a training session in the new academy of the Austrian Tennis Committee (ATC) headed by father Thiem, is far from his top form. Exclamation marks such as the impressively clear victory over Andy Murray have been followed in the last few weeks by a setback such as the even more surprising elimination against the young Frenchman Hugo Gaston.
Despite the tricky draw, it is therefore quite realistic that Dominic Thiem will be in the round of eight, in the quarter-finals of the ATP event in Vienna, towards the end of next week. In this one, Andrey Rublev could probably wait for the greatest possible test. The Russian is acting in the form of his life these days, most recently in Hamburg and St. Petersburg two titles at the ATP 500 level in a row.
Also possible in the semifinals duel with Russians
The last duel on the ATP tour between Dominic Thiem and Andrey Rublev dates from Hamburg: in 2019, when the young Russian surprisingly prevailed in two tiebreaks. The four-year-old Austrian won the first two matches. Even during the interruption of the tour, the two players known for their offensive style of play faced each other - in Kitzbühel at "Thiem's 7". Here Thiem was able to win in the group stage, but then had to admit defeat to the 23-year-old in the final.
Should Thiem also master this hurdle, the next Russian could wait in the semifinals with Daniil Medvedev. The Lichtenwörther had recently disenchanted the 24-year-old in the semi-finals of the US Open in an impressive manner. And so it could come to the dream final, the duel of number one against number two of the tournament, the new edition of the Australian Open final: Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic meet.
Here you can find all the information about the Erste Bank Open draw!