On Tuesday (not before 21:00, in our LIVE ticker and on SKY), Dominic Thiem and Roger Federer meet at the ATP Final in London. Under special circumstances: Both players were the losers on Sunday.
If a player comes to the press conference immediately after a match, this is rarely a good sign. Novak Djokovic had done so after his quarter-final exit against Marco Cecchinato in Roland Garros this spring, but had chosen the smaller interview Room 2. One and a half minutes after the lost match, Roger Federer also asked for a talk on Sunday evening.
After a match that wasn’t to the Maestro’s taste. 6:7 (4) and 3:6 against Kei Nishikori, that can happen. But the way in which this defeat came about is something the Swiss probably had to nibble at during the night on Monday.
In the end, there were 34 unforced mistakes in the balance, Federer blamed the initial phase of the second set for the fact that he could not turn the tide. Nishikori immediately made up for the quick break to 1-0 without much effort on his part, after which the favourite was not at peace with himself. But after the match he didn’t have time to praise Nishikori’s high playing level.
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Tuesday will see the meeting with Dominic Thiem, a match that both parties probably wanted for that day. But under different conditions. Winner against winner, that would have been the idea, now it is really about the possibly last chance to advance to the semi-finals.
Anyway, Thiem left his match against Kevin Anderson with a better feeling. How far this feeling carries the Lichtenwörther will remain to be seen. The last match against Federer was some time ago, in Stuttgart 2016 on grass war´s. At that time, however, the Swiss was only just on his way back – a path that would end a few weeks later in Wimbledon after his semi-final defeat against Milos Raonic.
This time fitness will not be a problem, Federer explained on Monday evening. It was just the same for him as for his upcoming opponent – Dominic Thiem also needed some time in his first match to develop a feeling for the court.
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The training session on Monday was cancelled by Federer without replacement, at least that in the O2. Maybe he was back at the Queen´s club again, maybe he was dedicated to the family. Dominic Thiem used lunch, but not on the Center Court. Peter Torebko, the German veteran at the Future and Challenger tournaments, also played the Austrian warm. Like Alexander Zverev before him. And later that afternoon, John Isner. Press conferences for Torebko are not planned.