ATP: Thiem before #NextGen test in Acapulco

Interesting task for Dominic Thiem in the second round of Acapulco: It’s against Denis Shapovalov, one of the outstanding players of the #NextGen.

In the autumn of 2016 Denis Shapovalov was a guest in the Vienna City Hall. Not as an active player, the then 16-year-old was about to switch from the junior level to the adult level, but Shapovalov had already celebrated his first successes at the Challenger level. The trip to the Austrian capital didn’t follow the Canadian left-hander’s ideas, Shapovalov made his visit to the town hall with a plastered leg. During a training session at the academy of Günter Bresnik’s academy, Shapovalov, who was born in Israel, had fallen over.

Which didn’t stop him from following the second edition of the Tie Break Tens as a fan. The winner? Dominic Thiem.

The very same Thiem, against whom Denis Shapovalov will play in round two of the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Acapulco on Wednesday (not before 6 p. m. local time). Both opponents had to go over three sets at the beginning, the youngster defeated Kei Nishikori after losing the first set and Dominic Thiem made it even more exciting after a sovereign start against Cameron Norrie.

Two years ago, Thiem won his first 500cc title in Acapulco, and a year ago, he beat Sam Querrey. The match against qualifier Norrie was the first of the third seeded Lower Austrian since the Australian Open, his opponent had already played on this underlay. Thiem will be accompanied by Galo Blanco during the last weeks, chief coach Günter Bresnik joins the team in Miami.

By the way, Bresnik has been very much in favour of Shapovalov for a long time. In addition to his skills as a tennis player, the young Canadian is above all an outstanding athlete who has also succeeded in other disciplines. Of course, the same could be said of Dominic Thiem, the 24-year-old’s passion and championship for and in football is well documented.

In the quarter-finals, the winner of the second-round match is expected to be an experienced opponent: Juan Martin del Potro competes with David Ferrer. Thiem lost to both of them last summer, but Shapovalov defeated del Potro in Montreal. In Auckland at the beginning of this year, the Argentinean won in two sets.

Here the single panel in Acapulco