Dominic Thiem was eliminated in the semi-final of the Rolex Paris Masters. Austria’s number one defeated the Russian Karen Khachanov 4:6 and 1:6.
The big stage was prepared. The duel between Dominic Thiem and Karen Khachanov caused euphoria among the fans in Paris-Bercy. Neither opponent had any starting difficulties.
Thiem started with serve, served strongly from the beginning and took the lead quickly. But Khachanov didn’t take long to ask for his first game win either. The powerful Russian did not give a beaten Alexander Zverev a chance in the previous round and also played powerful tennis against Thiem.
Austria’s number one, however, reacted solidly and struck with outstanding precision. Everything seemed to fit even with the one-handed backhand, on which the Lower Austrian repeatedly developed an enormous pace. Thiem felt so comfortable in the first duel with the Russian that he occasionally mixed serve and volley into his game.
Only once did Thiem wiggle – and paid for it with a premium loss. Khachanov found his way into the game better, added a few km/h to the forehand and pushed Thiem into the defensive. Thiem fended off two breakballs brilliantly, at the third one the sixth seed was powerless. Then his opponent transformed the first set point to 6:4.
Thiem had already lost a set twice this week in Paris, but when Khachanov grabbed the Lower Austrian’s first serve in set two, Thiem’s chances seemed to dwindle. However, Thiem’s qualities as a taker are one of his hallmarks and so the “Dominator” immediately struck back with a re-break.
In part only 32% first serves were not enough for Thiem and his opponent managed the third break in a row to lead 2:1. When the Paris semi-final debutant also played his touch, Thiem could not turn the game around.
Another break to 4:1 was the preliminary decision in the first semi-final in Paris-Bercy and Khachanov used his first chance after 1:12 hours to enter his first Master 1000 final.