Now it’s time for the French Open 2018: The first semi-final places will be awarded. Right in the middle of it: Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev.
Thiem-Zverev-Watch: The training ground Jean Bouin seemed a bit lonely at noon on Monday. Madison Keys practiced a little with her coach, including Yulia Putintseva. The entourage of Novak Djokovic met at one of the tables in the shade, the Serbian Grand Master did not show up for the time being.
Dominic Thiem did. Court 25 was booked, together with a hitting partner. Galo Blanco joined Günter Bresnik’s team of supervisors a few days ago. Physiotherapist Alex Stober was also on the pitch, as always.
Alexander Zverev was a few minutes later, the German number one virtually inherited the court of Keys. On Tuesday, according to the weather, one of the two gentlemen will say goodbye from Paris.
Match of the day: Alexander Zverev (GER/2) vs. Dominic Thiem (AUT/7), Court Philippe Chatrier, 14:00, in our LIVETICKER. No words are needed. But maybe statistics.
Here are the matches between Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem.
Upset Alert of the day (balance: five correct tips, two wrong ones): Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) vs. Madison Keys (USA/13), Court Suzanne Lenglen, 14:00 h. A little faith is missing here. But whenever the keen observer thinks Maddie is on her way to a big title, something comes up. Perhaps already against Putintseva, for whom the word “feisty” was invented in the English language.
The Austrian glasses: There are two chances for the red-white-red tennis cup to secure a place in the semi-finals. Oliver Marach plays with Mate Pavic in a repeat of the Australian Open final against Cabal/Farah (11:00 a.m., Court 1), Alexander Peya gets to deal with Nikola Mektic with Bopanna/Roger-Vasselin (fourth match on Court 1). After all, they eliminated the first-placed Kubot/Melo in the round of 16.
Staff member of the previous day: Maximilian Marterer. Not so much because he challenged Rafael Nadal so much, especially in the third set of the game on Court Philippe Chatrier, no, the press conferences with the young man from Franconia always bring auf´s New fresh insights. This time: Rafael Nadal told him on the net after the match that it was good to see new faces on the tour. Torture could say the same thing in this specific case. After all, he had only trained with the Spaniard before.