Thiem and Zverev in Asia - Air upwards
Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev compete in the Asian swing at the tournaments in Beijing and Shanghai. The last direct duel was some time ago, the pressure to collect points is significantly higher for the German number one.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Sep 26, 2019, 08:34 am
Not so long ago were the days when attentive tennis fans could get the impression that the rivalry between Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem could become one that in absolute numbers would someday match that between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. In the spring of 2016, for example, the two best players in their country met three times in a very short time in Munich, Nice and at the French Open, and then again in Beijing later in the year. Only three more have joined these four matches, the most recent encounter so far was in Roland Garros in the quarter-finals in 2018. Zverev went into this game slightly injured, Thiem entered the semifinals without any problems.
Overall, the Austrian leads with 5-2 wins, last week Thiem and Zverev together defended the Laver Cup for Europe, in union with the gentlemen Federer, Nadal, Fognini and Tsitsipas, of course. In the rest of the 2019 tennis year, however, there could still be opportunities for the German-Austrian combo to meet on opposite sides of a network. Both Thiem and Zverev have named for the events in Beijing, Shanghai and Paris-Bercy or are required by the ATP regulations to compete in the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.
Thiem in Shanghai has so far had no order
To do this, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev would have to advance far into the tournament tree, certainly not a matter of course in the Asian competitions, especially not for the Lichtenwörther. Thiem only played in Shanghai in 2018, losing to Matthew Ebden right at the start. The year before, there were also bankruptcies in Chengdu (against Guido Pella), Tokyo (against Steve Johnson) and Shanghai (against Viktor Troicki). Thiem defeated Di Wu from China in Chengdu in 2016, but was as unlikely against Albert Ramos-Vinolas as against Alexander Zverev in Beijing.
He reached the semi-finals in Shanghai almost a year ago, defeated Novak Djokovic there. Before that in Beijing was the second match against Roberto Bautista Agut. In 2017, Zverev was in the semi-finals in Beijing, losing to Nick Kyrgios. In Shanghai, the round of 16 came against Juan Martin del Potro. The same round ended in 2016 against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, before that in Beijing in the quarterfinals against David Ferrer.
Zverev needs points for London
Zverev copes better with the events in Asia than Thiem, who has not yet made friends with the fast underground in Shanghai. The German number one, however, needs the points from the upcoming tournaments more urgently than its Austrian counterpart: Because while Dominic Thiem has almost secured his place at the ATP final in London, defending champion Zverev still has to fight for the qualification. If the native of Hamburg made it, there would still be an opportunity in the O2 Arena to finally play against Thiem again.