Dominic Thiem is in the quarterfinals of the ATP250 tournament in Gijon. The Lower Austrian prevailed on Wednesday in the round of the top 16 against the American Marcos Giron after an initially tough fight with 3:6.6:4.6:0. The next opponents are now either fourth-seeded Argentina Francisco Cerundolo or French qualifier Manuel Guinard.
“It was a very intense match with long rallies and a lot of running work. It was very close until the third set. Anything could have happened at the end of the second set, he could have won there,” said Thiem after the game in the court interview.
What was a clear matter in the third set was, until then, a feat that he had to accomplish. In the duel between the two 29-year-olds, Thiem was initially unable to follow up on his strong first-round performance against Joao Sousa (6: 2, 6: 0). Thiem had difficulties with the first serve against the 62nd in the current ATP ranking. The game started with breaks on both sides, after Thiem made it 3-2, he didn’t win a game and had to give up the first set after 37 minutes. Giron showed efficiency and took all three of his break chances.
Thiem: “Maybe I wanted too much”
“I was very nervous at the beginning. I was super good on Monday, maybe I wanted too much. But you have to fight your way through it, so I’m proud that I did it,” Thiem said in retrospect. In the second set he visibly continued to struggle with his game, but managed to make the comeback. For his part, he found break chances. Giron countered until the American made it 2-2, 44 minutes into the second round had already been played. However, Thiem now played his games more safely than his opponent and asserted himself. In the deciding set, he quickly managed a 4-0 lead, Giron was no longer able to counter.
Having entered the tournament in Gijon as number 165 in the world rankings, Thiem beckons after reaching the quarter-finals to jump into the top 150. The former US Open winner has set himself the goal of being in the top 100 by the end of the year.
