French Open: Dominic Thiem - Error-free days in Paris
Dominic Thiem increased from match to match at the French Open 2019. In the quarter-finals on Wednesday, the Austrian meets Karen Khachanov from Russia somewhat surprisingly.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jun 04, 2019, 12:29 pm
By Jens Huiber from Paris
"I'm the one who didn't make a mistake." Dominic Thiem spoke a big word calmly in his press conference on Monday evening at Stade Roland Garros. And the assessment of the now four-time quarter-finalist of the French Open would have been a perfect match for the almost flawless performance against Gael Monfils. In fact, the international press wanted a final word for the little episode with Serena Williams, which Thiem classified two days later as rather harmless.
But again for the record: Of course, he was not punished for not completing a TV interview. Because, see above, all other participants in this comedic interlude were flawed.
Thiem athletically stronger than Monfils
Thiem has also shown his best performance of the tournament against Gael Monfils . Which was also a mandatory requirement: "If I had played like in the first two rounds, Monfils would have played me away." In fact, it was Thiem who only surrendered once and beat the Frenchman in his own discipline: the Athletics. It is unbelievable which balls the 25-year-old Lichtenwörther not only got, but also played back into the field profitably. Especially in the phase in the third set, when Monfils had apparently set himself the goal of wearing down Thiem with stop balls.
Just like in the rally that went viral on the Internet minutes after it was created. "Of course luck is always a part of that," Thiem said when asked. But he would have had no other way to play the ball. And he was glad that the first tweener of the 2019 game year turned out to be so impressive.
# BETATHOMEFO #
Now against Karen Khachanov
Dominic Thiem did not have to reckon with his next opponent. Karen Khachanov managed to beat slightly favored Juan Martin del Potro in four sets in the last match on Suzanne Lenglen. Thiem first played against Khachanov, in the best sporting week of the 23-year-old Moscow's career. In autumn 2018, Khachanov got into a frenzy, defeating Alexander Zverev, Thiem and Novak Djokovic in the final at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy.