Tennis News: Dominic Thiem’s first 13 matches at the Rio Open ended in victory in straight sets. But this time, he had to fight hard to finish one match.
The first seed, Dominic Thiem handled the situation well when he fell behind with a set and at the start of the second set before crippling Spanish qualifier Jaume Munar with 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 in 2 hours 41 minutes. However Thanks to his hard work, Thiem advanced to the quarterfinals in Rio de Janeiro for the fourth time in five trials.
“The important thing is victory,” world number 4, Thiem said. “That’s what I did. I struggled hard from the first point to the last point. And That’s the thing I’m proud of this match and that’s what I will bring to the next match. “
Munar appeared heated up from the first point and did not allow Thiem to master it, even though he had never won one of the four sets they had played before.
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Not so often when Thiem loses a solution. But after falling behind 0-2 in the second set, he looked out of options.
“Then I felt a little tight at the start and I thought, when I fell behind a set and at the start of the second set, I was a little depressed, but after that I slightly increased my level of play,” Thiem admitted.
“When I started chasing 1-2 in the second set, I felt there was a blow that made me aware and I was able to increase my level of play. From that moment on, I can give a little more energy and I can turn things around. “
With Munar’s convincing performance, Thiem did not panic, in fact he was finally able to impose a decisive set.
Thiem seemed to master the match when he snatched a 4-2 advantage in the deciding set. But Munar did not give up and forced Thiem to fight back. World number 99 grabbed the next two games for the sake of equalizing 4-4.
However, again Thiem increased the level of his game to get a match point opportunity which finally disappeared after Munar killed him. But Thiem is too tough on his second match point opportunity before making sure he qualifies for the quarterfinals.
For the sake of returning to the semifinals Thiem will face Italian tennis player Gianluca Mager who defeated Joao Domingues 6-3, 7-6.
Previously, when playing the match against Meligeni, Dominic Thiem admitted that he fought hard to overcome the pain in his knee, thus raising concerns about his fate in this tournament. He asked for a pause for medical reasons in the first game of the second set and bandaged the bottom of his kneecap.
Concerns about the condition of the knee arise after Thiem revealed his target broke into the top 3 for the first time. He can surpass Roger Federer if he at least advances to the semifinals. At present, he is only 85 points adrift of Federer.
