Thiem Takes Down Former Champion
Thiem Takes Down Former Champion
Thiem defeats 2014 champion in Acapulco quarter-finals
They are renowned for having among the finest single-handed backhand’s in the men’s game and on Thursday, Dominic Thiem emerged triumphant in the battle of two of the ATP World Tour’s brightest prospects, defeating Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 6-2 in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel quarter-finals.
The World No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Rankings reached the semi-finals last week in Rio de Janeiro after capturing his fourth career title in Buenos Aires the week prior. World No. 26 Dimitrov was appearing in his fourth ATP World Tour quarter-final of 2016.
It was the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter and the 22-year-old Austrian made the quicker start of the two, breaking the Bulgarian’s opening service game before relinquishing the break for 2-2.
Seventh seed Dimitrov again faltered on serve at 5-5, allowing the No. 4 seed to serve out the opening set in one hour and two minutes. Thiem started the second set in the same vein as the first, breaking immediately for 1-0 before securing the double break for 5-2. He served out the match to love after one hour and 38 minutes.
“Breaking him in the first game of the second set was maybe the deciding moment of this match,” Thiem said. “The key of this match was to win the first set. I started to play better and better and the momentum swung to my side.
“Of course if you’re a set and a break up … you think you have momentum on your side but there’s still a very long way to go. My opinion is that Grigor is an unbelievable player with a beautiful game. I hope in the near future we are at the top together.”
The win books Thiem a semi-final showdown with either Taylor Fritz or Sam Querrey. “Tomorrow it’s going to be very tough against Fritz or Querrey,” Thiem said.
“They’re both on a run. Of course the biggest goal is to win this tournament but it’s going to be very difficult.”