Dominic Thiem is in the quarter-finals of the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro. His opponent in the round of the last 16, Pablo Andujar, had to give up injured.
Only 36 minutes of playing time was the Austrian number one on the Center Court in Rio, where he won his eighth ATP Tour title last year. Then Andujar had to finish the match at a score of 4:2 for Thiem. This was a bitter setback for the experienced, though wounded Spaniard, who had celebrated his first success in two years at the start of the event under the Sugar Loaf Mountain with his success against Gerald Melzer.
In the quarter-finals, Thiem will face Fernando Verdasco, another Spaniard in the third match after 7 p. m. CET. The left-hander prevailed against Nicolas Kicker in three sets and won the two previous matches against Thiem: 2015 in Wimbledon in five sets, last autumn in the Hall of Paris in two rounds.
Tournament favourite Marin Cilic, on the other hand, is eliminated: The Croatian was defeated by the Frenchman Gael Monfils with 3:6 and 6:7 (8) in the continuation of the match, which ended on Wednesday.