Austrian tennis player and former Grand Slam champion Dominic Thiem defeated Laslo Djere 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-4 in the round of 32 at the Tel Aviv Watergen Open. Thiem overcame Djere in a long 2-hour 40-minute battle to set up a meeting with 2nd seed Marin Cilic in the round of 16.
https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/1574462812478476306
Dominic Thiem improved his serve as the match went on and came back from one set down to secure a victory. He fired 25 winners all match and did not face a single break point in the deciding 3rd set. After losing the first set 7-5, Thiem rallied from behind and won the 2nd set tiebreaker. Djere converted 3 out of 5 break point opportunities to this point but did not get one afterward.
Thiem on the other hand kept improving his serve and attacked Djere poor serve which included 8 double-faults. Djere fired 17 aces in the match but it wasn’t enough against Thiem who showed good signs to combat big serves. Dominic Thiem had 10 break point opportunities all match, of which he converted 3.
Thiem also extracted revenge against Djere, who won their first meeting in 2019 at the Rio Open in straight sets. The H2H thus now stands at 1-1.
Reactions from Dominic Thiem after the match
“I didn’t get off to a great start. I got the break in the second set and then I was a bit lucky I could turn the match around,” Thiem said in his on-court interview. “The third set was a real grind… I am very grateful to everyone who came tonight. It is really nice to play in Israel.”
Former US Open champion and World No. 3 Dominic Thiem will face 2nd seed Marin Cilic in the next round whom he leads 4-0 in the H2H. Marin Cilic will look forward to halting Thiem’s momentum.
https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/1574464520403259406
Tel Aviv’s draw is stacked with top players such as Former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Diego Schwartzman. Dominic Thiem’s success at the Open against these players can prove pivotal for his form on tour coming back from injury this year.
Read More: Swiss Tennis Star Roger Federer announces retirement after a decorated career
