Dominic Thiem (No. 5) played his way into the quarter-finals of Monte Carlo with a brilliant performance. The Austrian defeated the former world number one Novak Djokovic (No. 9) in 2:29 hours 6:7 (2:7), 6:2, 6:3 and was not annoyed by the lost opening round.
In the first set Thiem had led 5:2 and assigned three set points. Thiem will now face either ten-time Monaco champion Rafael Nadal (No. 1) or unseeded Karen Khachanov on Friday. However, Davis Cup player Philipp Kohlschreiber (Augsburg), who was unable to take advantage of a set advantage against Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria/No. 4) at 6-4, 3-6, 4-6.
Djokovic first felt that Thiem on Sand is one of the world’s top players in the first few games. With his offensive power tennis he pushed the Serbs on the sun-drenched Court Rainier III to the defensive – and quickly took a 3-0 lead. Djokovic, who was injured at his elbow for a long time, was only a passenger for long stretches of the first run, but nevertheless came back: Three missed set points from Thiem woke him up.
The longer the set lasted, the better the twelve-time major winner became. In the tiebreak Djokovic was finally on top. The third double mistake of the Lower Austrian gave “Nole” the almost impossible advantage. Djokovic had won the 5.24 million euro tournament in the Principality in 2013 and 2016, but had struggled with his form in the most recent matches after his long break.
In the second set, both did not burn anything until 2:2. Both Thiem and Djokovic noticed the lack of match practice in some phases – as well as the importance of the game, not least in mental terms. Thiem then kept his nerve when he used his third break point in the fifth game of the second round.
In the service game that followed, the two-time French Open semi-finalist wobbled but got his service through and bought Djokovic’s edge a little later with the second break in a row. Shortly thereafter, Thiem, who had never made it past the round of 16 in Monaco, forced the Serb into the deciding set.
Djokovic then caught up again and seemed more stable, especially on serve, while Thiem had to go above his first serve twice.
The exciting match then moved inexorably towards the decision. At 3-3 Thiem used a break point when he remained patient during a long rally and she won. The “Dominator” then took the lead confidently to the finish line and gained further self-confidence for the French Open starting in Paris at the end of May. In the second match point for Thiem, Djokovic missed the ball.