It was a generational duel within Austria when 30-year-old Dominic Thiem and 21-year-old Lukas Neumayer met in the round of 16 of the Challenger tournament in Zadar on Wednesday. The outcome – Neumayer easily beat the former US Open winner 6:2, 6:1 – wasn’t a complete surprise given the last results, but the clear outcome was. It’s no wonder that the Salzburg player, who is looked after by Thiem’s former coach Günter Bresnik, was able to draw a positive conclusion: “I’m proud of myself, how I played throughout the entire match and how I played it bravely and aggressively,” said Neumayer told the “Salzburger Nachrichten”.
In the same breath, the young Austrian, who is celebrating a new career high as number 205 in the live ranking, also found words of comfort for Thiem. “I feel extremely sorry for Dominic. I can imagine what it must be like for him if you played as well as he did and are now playing like that. Nevertheless, I have the utmost respect for how he deals with it,” emphasized Neumayer, who will face Czech Jonas Forejtek in the quarter-finals in Zadar on Friday.
Thiem is foregoing the Challenger in Naples planned for next week and is expected to return to the ATP tour in Estoril.
2024-03-21 10:03:00
#feel #extremely #Dominic
