Dominic Thiem is in the round of 16 of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bércy. The Austrian defeated local hero Gilles Simon and will now face either Borna Coric or Daniil Medvedev.
Good start for Dominic Thiem at the last ATP Masters-1000 tournament of the year: The 25-year-old Austrian had little problems with Gilles Simon, won 6:4 and 6:2 after a playing time of 1:24 hours. Thiem will face either Daniil Medvedev from Russia or Borna Coric from Croatia in the round of 16 on Thursday.
Gilles Simon, on the other hand, is an opponent with whom Dominic Thiem can basically do a lot: The Frenchman strikes precisely, but not particularly hard. Simon does not take the balls as early as Kei Nishikori, for example, against whom Thiem had no chance in Vienna. No wonder that the balance before the match in Bércy was clearly on the side of the Lower Austrian with 7:2 wins. Even if Simon was not far away from his third win against Thiem at the last meeting in Lyon.
Dominic Thiem started in front of her friend Kristina Mladenovic and her father with two breaks, led 4:0 after 19 minutes. The match against Simon was only scheduled as the second evening match, but the withdrawal of Milos Raonic before the match against Roger Federer put Thiem and Simon in Prime Time. The two had trained together at the weekend, Simon had to bowl Lucas Pouille out of the tournament afterwards.
The 33-year-old Frenchman fought his way up to 4:5, but Thiem still served up 6:4 after 43 minutes.
Also in run two it was the sixth seeded Thiem who took the first break. And the second to 3-0 right after. Simon had no solutions for the tasks Thiem set him. Especially since the Austrian varied the tempo, also used the slice very effectively. Nevertheless, Thiem was not able to leave the game 6:0, Simon made a small comeback. After 83 minutes Thiem won his first match point with a short forehand cross and then made a double mistake. The second serve was used by the favourite with a strong first serve.
Dominic Thiem’s opponent will be determined on the Center Court in the last match of the day: Daniiel Medvedev, defeated last week in the Basel semi-final by Roger Federer, will face the finalist of the Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai, Borna Coric.
Here the single tableau in Paris-Bércy