Dominic Thiem played his way into the second round of his home tournament in Vienna with a strong performance against the Russian Andrey Rublev and found his way back on track.
Maximilian Kisanyik reports from the Vienna City Hall
The long wait had finally come to an end and the Viennese tournament got to see the long awaited performance of local heroes Dominic Thiem against NextGen star Andrey Rublev. The center court with 8,800 seats was almost completely filled and the conditions couldn’t have been better.
The start of the match offered what all visitors had hoped for. The two youngsters did not flare for long and let one spectacular change of ball after the other follow. After a quick 2-0 win for Rublev, the number two countered the seed list strongly and took the lead 3-2. The local hero increased the pressure and pressed for mistakes of the Russian “Young gun”. After 39 minutes it was the first time that Thiem made a real noise in the Wiener Stadthalle when Thiem won the first set 6:4.
The second round couldn’t have started better for the “Dominator” and the 24-year-old from Wiener Neustadt promptly grabbed the break and a quick 2-0 lead. After three first-round defeats during the Asian tour, Thiem seemed to be improved and acted with much speed and commitment.
Thiem was rewarded with another break for the 4-1 lead, while his 20-year-old opponent from Moscow came closer and closer to the frustrations line. When Thiem’s forehand found his goals, the 6:4 and 6:3 victory was not far away. The resume of the first-round match: Austria’s top star picks up where he left off, seems to be liberated and made the audience’s hearts beat faster.
In the last sixteen, the 24-year-old will face the Frenchman Richard Gaquet.
The single panel in Vienna