Dominic Thiem has reached the quarter-finals at the French Open 2018 with a grand performance over long distances: The Austrian defeated the Japanese Kei Nishikori in four sets and now meets Alexander Zverev.
By Jens Huiber from Paris
Dominic Thiem had played twice on the biggest place in Roland Garros before the meeting with Nishikori, on both occasions, 2014 and 2017, against Rafael Nadal smoothly in three sets lost. Thiem started at 10:15 a.m. with a hitting partner, observed by an astonishing number of Japanese reporters.
After a play time of 2:26 hours a 6:2, 6:0, 5:7 and 6:4 of the Austrian number one had to testify. Thiem will now face Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals, who defeated Karen Khachanov 2-1.
Thiem coach Günter Bresnik had expected an aggressive Nishikori, but in fact it was the Austrian who was pushing the pace right from the start. Thiem started with an early break, followed by the next 5:2. The first act only lasted 27 minutes, Thiem finished with an ace. Thiem’s first ever set win on Chatrier.
The Austrian, who was seeded in seventh place, did not let up and Nishikori lost his serve at the beginning of set two to zero. At this point at the latest, the audience felt compelled to support the Japanese.
Nothing came to Nishikori in this phase, the Japanese had to fight for every point. Thiem, on the other hand, seemed to fly over the course and had enormous length in his strokes. 3-0 on the next break. Meanwhile, the interest of the Japanese observers had given way to disbelief over Thiem’s dominance. With an ace the Lichtenwörther finished the 6:0 after a total playing time of 56 minutes.
That the 24-year-old from Lichtenwörth would not be able to continue playing at this level – especially against a longtime top ten man like Kei Nishikori – results from the logic of tennis. At some point, the balls that had landed on the line a few minutes earlier were a centimetre too far. Nishikori came into the game better, at least as a serve.
That the Japanese won the third set 7-5, however, was due more to Thiem, who offered three simple mistakes in a row in the twelfth match after a 30-15 lead. Nishikori accepted with thanks.
The fourth round decided in the seventh game: Thiem used his second breakchance with a powerful forehand return, Nishikori had to digest that one briefly, stared at the impression of the ball for a few seconds. Thiem wobbled gently on his own serve, but after 2:26 hours served out for the third time in the round of the last eight at the French Open.
There, the Lower Austrian will meet Alexander Zverev. In his third five-set match in a row, the German defeated the Russian Karen Khachanov. Thiem leads in the internal balance with the German number one with 4:2 victories, the last time in the final of Madrid Zverev had prevailed in two sets.