Thiem delivered a duel at eye level to the fourth in the world rankings up to 3: 3. After that, however, Medvedev acted like a champion and showed a flawless performance. In the quarter-finals, the former number one in the world now meets Jannik Sinner from South Tyrol or Francisco Cerundolo from Argentina. “It was extremely difficult to play against Dominic. I was at the highest level and I’m very happy that I was able to win this game,” said Medvedev.
Thiem, who suffered his third defeat in the sixth duel with the Russian, has to wait for his return to the top 100. If he had won, he would have achieved that goal. Austria’s number one continues with qualification for the ATP 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy. “The first seven or eight games were really good. Then I couldn’t play through the high level. Then I slacked off. Then you get a result like this. Up to that point, it had been an evenly matched match. Then I fell off and the match ended the way it did,” explained Thiem.
Sensational tennis at the beginning
Thiem got off to a much better start than at the start against Tommy Paul, as he got through his first service game. That gave self-confidence, especially from the backhand the Austrian showed winning shots. Since Medvedev also showed all his skills, the fans in the Wiener Stadthalle got what they had hoped for: world-class tennis. There were no break chances for the time being. Thiem came closest when the score was 2: 3, when the Russian had to make a debut twice, but still made the game.
Thiem played aggressively but had to take a lot of risks as the opponent brought everything back. The Austrian’s error rate went up. At 3: 3, the Austrian was confronted with the first breakballs of the game, but mastered this situation three times. At the fourth break chance, Thiem made a double mistake – the almost 15-minute marathon game gave Medvedev the 4: 3 lead. Thiem immediately offered the chance to rebreak, but the Russian made it 5: 3 and after 54 minutes got the first set with the second break.
Medvedev incredibly confident
Medvedev continued to play loosely and distribute the balls, not with the highest speed, but precisely. Thiem needed a mixture of patience and aggressiveness to stand up to the fourth in the world rankings. There weren’t many chances to turn the game around. Medvedev acted confidently, served aces and launched winners. Thiem, who was not satisfied with his footwork, had to work much harder in his service games and conceded the break to make it 1: 3.
While the comeback with his back to the wall was still successful against Paul at the start, this time Thiem found his master in Medvedev. The audience also noticed that the impressively playing Russian could not be bent in this game. The Austrian was still in the game, but Medvedev didn’t offer an opportunity for a rebreak. Thiem fought again. But it was in vain, after 1:37 hours the Russian used the first match point.
“He’s extremely uncomfortable to play against because he moves well for his size and makes next to no mistakes. He found a good rhythm on his serve in the second set. It was a very emotional week in Vienna. It was also very tiring. I still want to reach the top 100, so I need a clever tournament plan now. Then I also need a break and want to start preparing for next year,” said Thiem.
ATP 500 tournament in Vienna
(Austria, 2,489,935 euros, hard court/indoor)
