At the start, Thiem meets the opponent he had only beaten the previous week. The 2020 US Open winner defeated the Argentinian Facundo Bagnis in Croatia after a challenging match 6: 4 7: 5, now the South American wants revenge. As a qualifier, he comes into the “night session” with two wins from the weekend and match practice. However, due to the unpredictable weather in Kitzbühel, it is unclear whether the game can take place on Tuesday evening as planned.
“I’ll give myself some clues as to what I did well in Umag,” Thiem said in a preview on Monday. “But it will be a completely different match. The conditions are very different – right from sea level to 700 m. The course itself and the balls are different.”
Thiem meets Bagnis
Dominic Thiem will join the action at the ATP tournament in Kitzbühel on Tuesday. He meets Facundo Bagnis at the start. On Monday he warmed up as part of a tennis show with ski stars and a prominent referee.
As every year, the return to Kitzbühel was special for Thiem, as the 29-year-old emphasized at a press conference. “I was able to experience many milestones here,” he recalled his first ATP tournament played there, his first ATP main draw match and his first ATP tournament victory in 2019 in Austria. “I’m happy to play in front of my home crowd,” said the local hero. On Monday evening, for the first time on the tour, we went together with “stable colleague” Sebastian Ofner in a doubles match, so to speak, which was lost against the Argentinian pairing Guido Andreozzi/Guillermo Duran 6:4 6:7 (5/7) 7/10 .
expectations are high
Of course, the focus is entirely on the individual. The expectations of the public and of himself, as Thiem said, are high. “I’m good at it too. Of course, the development is not quite as I would have liked, or the ranking is not quite as I would have liked – much further down than I would like to see it Spring had spoken against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas after a narrowly lost high-class match in Madrid, is now “certainly not much left”.
GEPA/Matthias Hauer In 2019, Thiem celebrated his first ATP tournament victory in Austria in Kitzbühel
However, “Paris probably put a damper on him. It was bitter, the defeat,” said Thiem, addressing the first-round loss at the French Open in five sets against Pedro Cachin. There could now be revenge against the Argentinian in Kitzbühel, for which both would have to reach the semifinals. The following start-out with a major gave him a boost despite the defeat, in Wimbledon Thiem again narrowly lost to Tsitsipas. “It was a great match and showed me that I’m fully competitive.”
more on the subject
Last year’s finalist Misolic in Kitz already out
The feeling fits
Since then it’s been splashing around, Thiem’s expectations in Gstaad and Umag were a lot greater than his yield of points there. “If the performance isn’t right, it’s the end of the line. The opponents are too good for that,” said the Lower Austrian. What fits is the feeling. He feels that every single match or tournament week can turn around. He still doesn’t bring good training performance well enough into the match. “There are games that were really good. Then I fall off again and don’t quite get it across the field. Hopefully that will happen in Kitzbühel this week.”
Thiem can wait for this turnaround, that much is certain for him. “My patience is very, very long. Knowing that this could happen every week also helps to be patient. I just have to make sure that my game is back on track so that it works against all players.”
ATP 250 tournament in Kitzbuehel
(Austria, 630,705 euros, sand)
Erstrundentableau:
Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG/1)
Freilos
Guido Andreozzi (ARG)
Filip Misolic (AUT) 5:7 6:4 6:2 Daniel Elahi Galan (COL) Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 6:2 6:2 Daniel Altmaier (GER/8) Marc-Andrea Hüsler (SUI) -:- -:-
Sebastian Ofner (AUT/4) Freilos Alex Molcan (SVK) Luca Van Assche (FRA/11) 6:4 6:3 Sebastian Baez (ARG) Hamad Medjedovic (SRB) 6:4 6:2 Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP/6) Guido Pella (ARG) 6:2 6:4 Laslo Djere (SRB/5) Christopher O’Connell (AUS) -:- -:-
Dennis Novak (AUT) Thiago Seyboth Wild (BRA) -:- -:- Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) John Paul Rods (PER) 6:1 7:5 Peter Cachin (ARG/3) Freilos Dusan Lajovic (SRB/7) Zang Zhizhen (CHN) -:- -:-
Dominic Thiem (AUT) Facundo Bagnis (ARG) -:- -:- Juan Manuel Cerundolo (ARG) Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) -:- -:- Yannick Hanfmann (GER/2) Bye qualification, second round:
Dennis Novak (AUT)
Thiago Monteiro (BRA)
6:4 6:3
Hamad Medjedovic (SRB)
Luke Neumayer (AUT) 6:3 6:1 First round:
Dennis Novak (AUT)
Joel Schwaerzler (AUT)
6:4 6:1
Luke Neumayer (AUT) Federico Coria (ARG) 6:1 6:2 Hamad Medjedovic (SRB)
Lucas Miedler (AUT) 6:4 7:6 (7/4) Making the Bands (ARG)
Maximilian Neuchrist (AUT) 6:7 (6/8) 6:2 6:1 doubles, round of 16:
Alexander Erler / Lucas Miedler (AUT/1) Nikola Cacic / Victor Vlad Cornea (CRO/ROU) -:- -:- Guido Andreozzi / Guillermo Duran (ARG)
Sebastian Ofner / Dominic Thiem (AUT)
4:6 7:6 (7/5) 10/7
Sam Weissborn / Romain Arneodo (AUT/POL) Pedro Cachin / Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG) 6:4 6:2
Philipp Oswald / Marcelo Demoliner (AUT/BRA) Gonzalo Escobar / Alexander Nedowessow (ECU/UKR/4) -:- -:-
Filip Misolic / Joel Schwaerzler (AUT) Simone Bolelli / Andrea Vavassori (ITA/2) -:- -:-