Tennis: Thiem is fighting for the next semi-final

Only in Gstaad has Thiem managed to win three matches in a row at tour level. At the Challenger in Rennes, the ex-US Open winner had four victories en suite up to the final. On Friday, Thiem wants to win the next win against Argentina’s number four Francisco Cerundolo. Cerundolo is actually a clay court specialist and won his first ATP title in Baastad this year. He had previously caused a surprise by reaching the semifinals in Miami.

Thiem is currently at tour level 2022 with 13 wins and 13 defeats each. On Friday there will be a premiere for Nicolas Massu’s protégé, who celebrated his 43rd birthday in Gijon on Monday. The Lower Austrian has never met the 24-year-old newly promoted Cerundolo, who is 29th in the ranking.

“It’s a bit up and down”

On Friday, Thiem will probably have to approach that of the first round again. “It’s still a bit up and down. Monday was really very good, maybe I wanted a bit too much today (Wednesday, note).” In the second lap he pulled the “handbrake” a bit again. “But it also depends on the opponent’s condition on the day.”

Thiem will try to play against Cerundolo like on Monday. “I have to make sure that I play freely from the start, hopefully it will be a good match on Friday,” said the former number three in the world.

Long-distance duel for Austria’s number one

The long-distance duel for the ÖTV number one will hardly play a role in Thiem’s ​​mind, because his big goal for the rest of the season is to return to the top 100. The 23-year-old Rodionov presented at the Challenger in Saint-Tropez and in the round of 16 against Oleksej Krutych 7:6 (7/5) 6:2.

If you look one more round in the Gijon grid, then there could be another duel between Thiem and a top ten player. Andrei Rublev is top seeded in Gijon, winning his first match against Ilja Ivashka (BLR) 6:3 5:7 6:4 on Thursday.

ATP 250 Tournament in Gijon

(Spanien, 612.000 Euro, Hardcourt/Indoor)