Generali Open: Dominic Thiem wins in Kitzbühel - 26 years after Thomas Muster
Dominic Thiem was the first Austrian to win the Generali Open in Kitzbühel according to Thomas Muster. The Lower Austrian defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas from Spain in the final of the ATP Tour 250 tournament.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Aug 03, 2019, 06:51 pm
By Jens Huiber from Kitzbühel
Full house, of course. And among the more than 5,600 fans, the two triumphants in the speed competitions at Streif 2019, Dominik Paris and Josef Ferstl. What should go wrong for Dominic Thiem? Well, for one thing, the weather was difficult. And then there was also Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who would have liked to have won the second title within seven days. Ramos-Vinolas had won in Gstaad on Sunday.
Nothing came of it: Dominic Thiem crowned himself Kitzbühel Champion 2019 after a somewhat rough start phase, a longer rain break and a 7: 6 (0) and 6: 1. For the Lower Austrian, it was the 14th success on the ATP tour that third after Indian Wells and Barcelona this year.
Ramos-Vinolas starts strong
Thiem seemed to get a tailor-made start, opening up two break chances in the first game. Could not use this and had to fight for the compensation to 2: 2 properly. In any case, Ramos-Vinolas was better in the game over long stretches of the first set, the break in the rain at 5: 4 for the Spaniard was more likely to suit Thiem.
After a 69-minute break, it continued until the tie-break equalized. Thiem got this without a counterpoint - because the Spaniard suddenly acted extremely error-prone.
Thiem confidently in the second sentence
The first break of the entire endgame came at the beginning of set two: Ramos-Vinolas could not find his rhythm from the beginning, gave up his serve to 0: 2. Thiem remained focused, but now also played with more trajectory than in the first set. And now convinced above all as a server - Ramos-Vinolas only had one chance to make a comeback until the end. Thiem fended off the Spaniard's breakball and used his first matchball after 98 minutes of play.
A childhood dream had come true for him, Thiem explained on the center court immediately after the end of the game. Then he received the winner's trophy, a golden chamois, from the hands of the organizers. It was 20 years ago that he first stood on this pitch, that he played his first ATP match in Kitzbühel, and also his first final - it is probably fate that he is now celebrating such a great success here.
With his first victory on Austrian soil Dominic Thiem ended a 26-year losing streak in Kitzbühel: Here Thomas Muster had last won in 1993. On a Monday. And at a time when the final was over three winning sets. Thiem will only have this task in a few weeks - at the US Open in New York City.