US Open: Thiem v Anderson – As always, the return is in demand

Dominic Thiem will meet an opponent who is not on the list of his opponents in the round of 16 of the US Open 2018 (Sunday, 5 p.m., Louis Armstrong Stadium, live on Europsort and in our LIVE-TICKER): Kevin Anderson.

By Jens Huiber from New York City

Kevin Anderson was well aware of the historical dimension: on Twitter the South African, who has long since taken root in the USA, expressed his joy that he had become part of a historic premiere: the first match under closed roof in the new Louis Armstrong Stadium.

That this almost took off, however, was also due to the support Anderson’s opponent Denis Shapovalov received. The Canadian gave up his serve early in the fifth set, then worked his way up several chances for a re-break. Once Shapovalov was unlucky, a linesman handed out a ball to the 19-year-old, although he had hit the line enough. Anderson destroyed the other possibilities in the manner that his Sunday opponent, Dominic Thiem, knows very well: with furious serves.

Thiem was full of praise for Anderson after his success against Taylor Fritz, making the 32-year-old the best baseline player among monster hitters. Thiem knows what he is talking about: Of seven matches against Anderson, Austria’s number one could only win one, the last one to date in the semi-finals of Madrid 2018.

On the other hand, Thiem was not far from victory in most of the defeats: In Washington 2017 as well as in Paris-Bércy 2016, a tiebreak in the third set had to decide on the success, in case of doubt, Anderson’s serve was decisive.

That von Thiem also generally passes as a weapon, even after the game against Fritz resumed: After an almost 20-minute rain break, Thiem hammered two aces into the field. But he also made three double mistakes in the same game.

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So it was not easy for Thiem or Anderson to reach the round of 16, thanks also to Steve Johnson and Ryan Harrison. Johnson tormented Thiem until the fifth movement, Harrison did the same with Anderson.

The Aufschlagreturn Thiems will probably decide about the success. Denis Shapovalov, like Thiem with a backhand played with one hand, actually adjusted well to the service of last year’s finalist. In the decisive moments, however, Kevin Anderson could rely on his biggest weapon after all.

Here are the matches between Dominic Thiem and Kevin Anderson so far