Dominic Thiem took the next hurdle at the ATP Challenger in Rennes. The former third in the world rankings made it into the semifinals of the hard court tournament on Friday with a hard-fought 3:6 6:3 6:2 against Bulgarian Adrian Andreev. The top seeded Frenchman Hugo Gaston is waiting there on Saturday, who didn’t give his compatriot Benoit Paire a chance in the 6:3 6:1. 90 ATP points and prize money of 9,200 euros await the tournament winner.
As in the opening round against the French Gilles Simon, the start for Thiem did not go as desired, a break to 3-1 for Andreew was the decisive factor in the end. But again, after falling behind in a set, an increase was recognizable.
At 3:0 in the second round, it seemed to be a quick set equalizer, but Andreew fought back and managed the rebreak to 3:4 in a marathon game. The 4:4 was also in the air afterwards, but this time Thiem had more staying power and with the break laid the foundation for winning the set.
Thiem takes momentum with him
Austria’s former number one took the momentum with him into the decision-making process. Breaks to 3: 2 and 5: 2 ensured clear conditions. After almost exactly two hours, after a long injury break, he was only 216th in the world rankings. his second match point with an ace.
The 29-year-old now has his third career duel with Gaston at the event, which is worth 67,960 euros. In 2020 in Paris and this season in Gstaad, Thiem had the better end for himself against the 21-year-old number 85 in the world on clay.
Also Novak in Szczecin in the semifinals
While her ÖTV colleagues are in the Davis Cup, there was also a sense of achievement for Thiem and Dennis Novak. With a 6:1 6:3 against the Brit Jan Choinsi, he made it into the semi-finals at the Challenger in Szczecin, where the Italian Rail Brancaccio is waiting on Saturday. On the other hand, Sebastian Ofner lost out in Istanbul against Turkey’s Koray Kirci (6:4 3:6 3:6).
In the women’s category, Barbara Haas was also eliminated in the quarter-finals in Jablonec by Misaki Matsuda of Japan with 2:6,4:6. Austria’s neo-top 100 player Julia Grabher had already gotten stuck in the round of 16 in Bucharest after winning the Bari tournament.
