Dominic Thiem was eliminated in the quarter finals of the ATP-500 tournament in Vienna. In the quarter-finals the top seeded Austrian lost against the big Japanese Kei Nishikori with 3:6 and 1:6.Nikolaus Fink reports live from the Vienna Stadthalle
When Kei Nishikori was drawn at the draw for the Erste Bank Open in Dominic Thiem’s neighbourhood, the halls of the Marriott Hotel in the first district of Vienna were muttered in anticipation. Nishikori versus Thiem – that could just as well be a semi-final at a Grand Slam tournament, was the general tenor.
But after both players had won their first two games in the Wiener Stadthalle with partly more and partly less effort, they should already face each other in the quarter-finals. And by no means in Paris or New York, but at the ATP 500 tournament in the Austrian capital. This circumstance alone speaks for the enormous density of the field of participants and tournament director Herwig Straka should not have put a smile on his lips just once.
Thiem and Nishikori were able to win the second lap after each of their difficult first victories. The Japanese played Moscow winner Karen Khachanov partially against the wall in his 6-2 and 6-2 success, while the Lower Austrian had no problems with serve giant Sam Querrey in his 6-4 and 6-4 victory. The spectators could look forward to a true tennis festival in the completely sold out Wiener Stadthalle on the Austrian National Holiday.
But at first the Austrian tennis fans didn’t feel like celebrating at all. Thiem had a very bad start and gave Nishikori an early break to 2:0. In the next service game, the Lower Austrian found two chances for an immediate re-break, but the Asian seeded five players could still score 3:0.
With sensational returns, the 28-year-old worked out three more break possibilities. Thiem was able to fend off all of them, but only two points later Nishikori led with a double break. 4:0 – the Japanese had silenced the city hall for the time being.
That shouldn’t last long. After two sovereign service games, the Lichtenwörther took the serve from the world ranking eleventh for 2:5. Thiem had lost his initial nervousness and now held up well against the strong Japanese. When Nishikori served for the set for the second time, the local hero even had a chance to get everything back on track. However, he missed three break points in a row and had to give up the first set 3:6.
Thiem still seemed to be preoccupied with the missed chances at the beginning of the second round. With two double errors he gave his opponent an early break as in set one. With further, partly unexplainable mistakes, the top seed gave up his serve only a few minutes later – Nishikori led not only 3-0, but also with a double break.
With Thiem the mistakes accumulated and thus Nishikori had hardly problems to set also in the second section fast on 5:1. Unlike in the first set, the Austrian did not make a comeback this time, Nishikori broke to a highly deserved 6:3 and 6:1 victory.
For Thiem the journey in Vienna is thus over. Although the 25-year-old equalised his best result in the Vienna Stadthalle with his entry into the quarter-finals, he is unlikely to be particularly satisfied with his trip from the capital to Paris. For Nishikori, however, the victory means important points in the fight for the ATP finals in London. In the semi-final he will meet Mikhail Kukushkin, who defeated Marton Fucsovics in a marathon match.
The single tableau in Vienna