Dominic Thiem defeated a top 20 player for the first time since his comeback at the 250 tournament in Bastad, Sweden. The 28-year-old from Lower Austria beat the favored Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets 7:6 (7/5) 3:6 6:4 in the round of 16 on clay. In addition, Thiem celebrated two wins in a row for the first time on his way back from his injury.
Two days after the opening success over the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori, which was Thiem’s first victory on the tour in 14 months, the Lower Austrian faced a tougher opponent in the round of 16. Thiem showed against Bautista Agut, who is number 20 in the world rankings, in windy conditions, in some cases playfully good, but above all in a strong fight.
The 2020 US Open winner got off to a good start, landed a few winners, but missed three break chances in the first few games and had to fend off the first break balls when the score was 2: 3. That failed, Bautista Agut made it 4: 2 and finally 5: 2. Thiem acted too incorrectly, the first sentence seemed lost for him. But the 28-year-old showed morale, made the break after a strong service game to make it 3: 5 and finally fought his way into the tie-break. It was close there too, the former world number three kept his nerve and got the first set after 1:10 hours.
First quarterfinals for Thiem since 2021
The match remained close and the course was similar. Thiem left break chances early on, then conceded the break to make it 2: 3. Many long rallies that were well worth seeing followed, but the Lower Austrian didn’t manage to turn the tide this time. Bautista Agut couldn’t let his advantage slip away and made it 6:3 with a break and equalized the set.
In the decisive round it was Thiem who secured the first break to make it 3: 2 and thus initiated his victory. He used his first match point at 2:40 to reach his first quarterfinal since Madrid in May 2021 when he failed in the semifinals. Thiem’s next opponent is the winner of the duel between Sebastian Baez (ARG-8) and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP).
ATP 250 tournament in Bastad
(Sweden, 597,900 euros, sand)
