Thiem's 7: Dominic Thiem beats Casper Ruud at the start
Dominic Thiem won his opening match at Thiem's 7 in Kitzbühel against Casper Ruud . The Austrian number one won 7-5 and 7-6 (4).
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jul 07, 2020, 05:07 pm
So the pictures can change within a few minutes: Jan-Lennard Struff and Andrey Rublev had just left the center court in Kitzbühel (with the better end for the Russians), two players who clearly got the pace. And in no time, Dominic Thiem and Casper Ruud were at the start, creating a lot more spin. The inclined expert speaks of "heavy" topspin, which Thiem brought to victory in the Gamsstadt at the Generali Open almost a year ago. Back in the final against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who beat Casper Ruud in the semi-final of the ATP Tour 250 tournament.
So now it was too late for the match between Thiem and Ruud, in the end with the expected winner. Thiem, who was extremely enthusiastic about his appearances on the Adriatic tour in Belgrade and at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown near Nice, won 7-5 and 7-6 (4).
Thiem on Wednesday in the night session
After losing the first set, Ruud took an intermediate sprint, quickly leading 4: 1. Thiem caught the 21-year-old from Oslo, who came to Kitzbühel with his parents. And had two chances to break again in the eleventh game. Above all, the second fought off Ruud happily: the youngster's ball slipped on the line, no longer got up. A tie break had to decide. In this, too, Ruud put on 4: 1. And Thiem fought back again. not only that: the favorite no longer gave a single point. And ended the game with a smash.
On Wednesday Thiem contests the night session against Rublev, the match is scheduled for prime time at 20:15 (live on ServusTV and Eurosport and in our live ticker). Ruud has to deal with struff in the afternoon.