Generali Austrian Pro Series: Thiem vs. Novak - dream final before the final
At the Generali Austrian Pro Series, Dominic Thiem and Dennis Novak will meet on Thursday (2 p.m. in our livestream and live ticker). The winner meets David Pichler in the final.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jun 24, 2020, 06:07 pm
The fact that the two nominally best players do not always meet in the final of a tennis tournament is what makes this sport so attractive. In a regular 28 or 64 or even 128 grid, the probability that the number one and number two endgame meet will decrease almost linearly the larger the number of participants (exception: the French Open, which says from the start of the tournament) on that Rafael Nadal will also contest - and win - the final.)
The idea for the Generali Austrian Pro Series would have been for Dominic Thiem and Dennis Novak to argue for the first price of the invitation event. As some unforeseen stumbling blocks in the course of the now more than four-week tournament want: The match between Thiem and Novak on Thursday (from 2 p.m. in our livestream and live ticker) is not about the sausage, but only about a place at the table, where this sausage is distributed on Friday. Surprise man David Pichler has already taken a seat there.
Thiem with a tight travel program
While Novak, who made it into the top 100 of the ATP world rankings for the first time at the beginning of the year, has spent the last few days in the immediate vicinity of the Federal Performance Center in Südstadt, Dominic Thiem is in the middle of a tour de force that initially takes him to Belgrade, then back to Vienna, then to Nice and soon to Kitzbühel and Berlin. Only Washington is not in the travel schedule of the current number three in the world, the event in the US capital did not rush Thiem with his sparingly sown performances.
The stations of the Thiem'schen tennis trips are not infrequently accompanied by visits to medical practices, the three-time major finalist undergoes a test for the corona virus every three to four days. So far, the result has always been negative, even if the rashes on the Adriatic tour shook the tennis world in Austria too. Colleagues Alexander Zverev and Marin Cilic, who also had negative tests, went into domestic quarantine, Filip Krajinovic, against whom Thiem won the final in Belgrade, is now taking part in the Eastern European Championships, as is another Belgrade starter, Dusan Lajovic.
The favorites are out in Germany
There, just like in the southern part of the city or in the German Men's Series, the game is played without a spectator (at least at the Großhesselohe and Oberhaching locations, a limited number of fans are permitted in Neuss). A wise decision, as it now appears to be. Incidentally, the sporting experience in Germany can be compared to that in Austria: The top seeded player, Jan-Lennard Struff, has taken himself out of the competition. Number two, Peter Gojowczyk, missed the main round.