Dominic Thiem has won the group stage against Kei Nishikori at the Nitto ATP finals in London. The Austrian won with a smooth 6:1 and 6:4.
Dominic Thiem had little hope of reaching the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP finals before his third match in the group stage. Two defeats at the end of the table saw the 25-year-old enter the match against Kei Nishikori.
Nishikori also put Roger Federer under pressure with a two-set victory, which would then have to defeat Kevin Anderson in two sets in the evening to reach the semi-finals.
And in the fight for the almost 200,000 euros per group victory, Thiem got off to a good start and grabbed the Japanese’s first service game for a quick 2-0 lead. The Lower Austrian acted focused and solid on the backhand, with which he surprised Nishikori again and again with strong passing shots.
Thiem confirmed the good start, led with 4:1 and took the lead after 42 minutes with 6:3 and set.
Sentence two should not be quite as relaxed for Thiem: Nishikori got into the game better and served with more conviction. Thiem, however, could not be shaken off and answered again and again with tough basic strokes.
The player from Lichtenwörth repeatedly worked his way up to break chances, of which he finally took a break lead at 3:3. Thiem took the lead and after 1:26 hours turned his first match point into a two-set victory.