mtenis.com.pl

Dominic Thiem's bid to reach a third consecutive Roland Garros semi-final began with a routine 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 victory against 24-year-old Ilya Ivashka of Belarus. Thiem converted eight of his 14 break chances to remain perfect in Roland Garros first-rounders.


The seventh-seeded Austrian is the only man to have beaten Rafael Nadal on clay in each of the past two years and comes into Roland Garros as one of only three men – Nadal and Alexander Zverev – who have celebrated multiple clay-court titles this season. Thiem won last week at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon and in February at the Argentina Open. He also reached the final of the Mutua Madrid Open earlier this month.

“I'm feeling great with a lot of confidence. Physically great, mentally great,” Thiem said. “It's very similar conditions from Lyon to here. So I felt the ball very good from the first moment on. I was moving well and playing well, just one little weak part in the second set. But apart from that, I'm very satisfied.”

Thiem will next meet 19-year-old Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who clinched his maiden Grand Slam victory, beating fellow #NextGenATP player Carlos Taberner of Spain 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3. Tsitsipas had been 0-3 in Grand Slam matches and fell in the first round at Roland Garros last year to Croatian Ivo Karlovic.

Thiem leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-1, but Tsitsipas won their only matchup on clay last month en route to his maiden ATP World Tour final at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (l. to Nadal).

“We played three times already this year. He's one very good, upcoming player. [He's] going to be Top 10, for sure, in the future and playing already unbelievable. But hope that I can have an advantage over best of five,” Thiem said.


Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis, who beat Roger Federer en route to the 2014 semi-finals (l. to Djokovic), advanced past 29th seed Gilles Muller 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Gulbis will next meet Italian Matteo Berrettini.

Serbian Dusan Lajovic set a second-round meeting with No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev by sweeping Czech Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. Lajovic made his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final earlier this month at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Anderson).

Austrian going for third consecutive Roland Garros SF
Dominic Thiem will take a two sets to one lead to sleep on Wednesday night as his second-round match at Roland Garros with #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas was suspended because of darkness 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

Thiem is trying to reach his third consecutive semi-final at Roland Garros and is a favourite to challenge 10-time champion Rafael Nadal in Paris. The Austrian, though, has been pushed by the 19-year-old Tsitsipas, who beat Thiem last month in straight sets at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.


You May Also Like: Djokovic Overcomes Gutsy Munar At Roland Garros
Thiem raced through the opening set but Tsitsipas rebounded well, breaking three times to even the match. Thiem, however, powered his way past the Greek to take the third set.

The winner of Thiem-Tsitsipas will next meet Italian Matteo Berrettini, who beat 2014 semi-finalist Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Nishikori has beaten Thiem in their two FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings
Dominic Thiem has accomplished as much on clay as any 24-year-old could hope for. The Austrian has won eight ATP World Tour titles on the red dirt and beaten Rafael Nadal three times on the surface, for starters. But he has been unable to move past the semi-finals at Roland Garros, falling in the final four in Paris the past two years.
Thiem continued his efforts to take it one step further on the terre battue, defeating Italian Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 on Friday in two hours, 37 minutes to reach the Round of 16 at the clay-court Grand Slam for the third time in five appearances.
The No. 7 seed did well to bounce back, competing for the third day in a row after darkness forced him to finish his four-set second-round match against #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas on Thursday. The Austrian broke six times (6/13) and won 40 per cent of return points to claim his 32nd match triumph in 2018, which ranks second on the ATP World Tour behind Alexander Zverev (33).
His next opponent, Kei Nishikori, has had the crowd against him in his opening trio of matches. Three French home favourites up, three French home favourites down.
And while he might have disappointed the Parisian faithful for the third straight match, Nishikori advanced to the Round of 16 at Roland Garros for the fourth consecutive year. The Japanese superstar defeated former World No. 6 Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-1, 6-3.
"I think everything was working well from the beginning. It was long rallies, but I think he gave me a good rhythm. I was hitting good forehands and backhands crosscourt, down the line," Nishikori said. "I was happy. In the third set [it] took a little bit of time to win the match. But [I'm] very happy with my tennis today."
Nishikori is now 10-2 against players competing at their home Grand Slams, including a 6-2 record against Frenchmen at Roland Garros. It was an impressive two-hour, one-minute performance by the No. 19 seed, who was forced to battle back from two sets to one down against Benoit Paire just two days ago.
Despite getting a late start to his 2018 season due to a right wrist injury, Nishikori has quickly worked his way back to form on the red dirt. He advanced to his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final on clay in Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal), and reached the quarter-finals in Rome before falling in a tightly-contested three-setter against Novak Djokovic.
Nishikori was not broken in his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against Simon, hitting 37 winners to cruise past the Frenchman. He will next battle clay sensation Thiem, against whom he has won both of his FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, including a victory on clay in Rome two years ago.
"I think this match is going to give me a lot of confidence, because I think I played what I wanted to play. I served well the past few matches, and everything worked well," Nishikori said. "I've got to keep my focus on for next one and try to keep my momentum going."
Did You Know?
Kei Nishikori's seeding of No. 19 is his lowest at a Grand Slam since 2012 Wimbledon, when he was also No. 19.

The Austrian will attempt to reach his third consecutive semi-final in Paris
For the second consecutive year, Dominic Thiem was the only player to defeat Rafael Nadal leading into Roland Garros. But it is safe to say that the 24-year-old would trade that in for a breakthrough in Paris. The Austrian is inching closer.

Thiem, the No. 7 seed, defeated in-form No. 19 seed Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-0, 5-7, 6-4 on Sunday to advance to the quarter-finals on the terre battue for the third consecutive year. The eight-time clay-court ATP World Tour titlist has reached back-to-back semi-finals at the year’s second major, and will have an opportunity to extend that streak against No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev.

"I was playing very, very well in the beginning, had a great start," Thiem said. "I played good tennis. I think he rose his level in set three and four. But at the end I'm happy with how it went today."

Thiem is just the second Austrian — man or woman — to advance to the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam championship at least three times, joining nine-time quarter-finalist Thomas Muster, who triumphed at Roland Garros in 1995. The World No. 8 earned his 33rd match win of the season, trailing just his quarter-final opponent, Zverev, who won his third consecutive five-setter to claim his 34th victory of the year. The players nearest to them are top seed Rafael Nadal and World No. 6 Juan Martin del Potro, both of whom have 26 triumphs in 2018.

This year's Buenos Aires and Lyon victor is also now tied for second among Austrians with 16 match wins at Roland Garros, joining 2010 semi-finalist Jurgen Melzer behind Muster. The left-handed former World No. 1 held at a 32-13 record at the event.

But perhaps what stands out is that Nishikori, the former World No. 4 working his way back from a wrist injury, entered the match in strong form. The Japanese superstar reached his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final in Monte-Carlo, before later advancing to the quarter-finals in Rome. And in the first two sets of their Round-of-16 encounter, Thiem completely dominated, hitting massive groundstrokes to seemingly stun Nishikori, putting the 28-year-old in a hole he could not dig out of. It took just 56 minutes to gain a two-set lead.

"I just wasn't there and maybe little bit nervous," Nishikori said. "He was hitting very deep. And I kind of lost what I had to do on the court."

But that was when the tide turned. Nishikori took a restroom break at the end of the second set, and came out refreshed, looking much more like the competitor who defeated Pune titlist Gilles Simon in the third round with the loss of just seven games. A slew of unforced errors late in the third set by Thiem allowed the Japanese to claw his way into the match and force a fourth. Thiem regrouped, though, hitting a massive inside-out forehand return that his opponent could barely get a racquet on to break in the seventh game, before closing out the two-hour, 28-minute win to get on the board in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Nishikori (trails 1-2).

"I didn't let him breathe in the first two sets. I played very well, and then I let him breathe a little bit, and that's why he became way, way stronger," Thiem said. "But at the end, it was very good that I won the fourth set."

Thiem's next match may be the most anticipated clash of the fortnight, as the Austrian faces Zverev in a rematch of the Mutua Madrid Open final, won by the German. Thiem leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-2.

"It's going to be a very tough match against him. He's going to be pumped. It's his first quarter-finals [at a Grand Slam]. So he wants to move on, for sure," Thiem said. "I hope I'm a little bit more experienced in this one.... I think the match, especially in Germany and Austria, [is what] everybody was hoping for. So I think we can make it legendary, and that would be very nice."

Did You Know?
Dominic Thiem is one of three players (also Nadal and Zverev) to win multiple ATP World Tour titles on clay in 2018. He has earned eight of his 10 trophies on the surface.

W ćwierćfinale Roland Garros 2018 dojdzie do arcyciekawie zapowiadającego się pojedynku Dominika Thiema z Alexandrem Zverevem. - Możemy sprawić, że nasz mecz stanie się legendarny - ocenił Austriak po pokonaniu w IV rundzie Keia Nishikoriego.

by awansować do ćwierćfinału Roland Garros 2018, Dominic Thiem musiał w niedzielę pokonać Keia Nishikoriego. Ten mecz miał dwie różne fazy. W ciągu pierwszej godziny Austriak zdominował rywala i stracił ledwie dwa gemy. Lecz od trzeciego seta Japończyk był w stanie podjąć wyrównaną walkę. Ostatecznie 24-latek z Wiener-Neustadt wygrał 6:0, 6:2, 5:7, 6:4.
- Początek w moim wykonaniu był świetny - mówił Thiem na konferencji prasowej. - W dwóch pierwszych setach grałem bardzo dobrze i nie dałem mu oddychać. A potem pozwoliłem mu nabrać oddechu i stał się dla mnie bardzo groźny. Ale na szczęście zakończyłem ten mecz w czterech partiach.

Dla Austriaka to trzeci z rzędu ćwierćfinał paryskiego turnieju. - Jestem bardzo zadowolony ze swojej postawy. Dobrze poruszam się po korcie, pod względem fizycznym czuję się optymalnie, a serwis przynosi mi wiele punktów - ocenił.

W ćwierćfinale Thiem zagra ze swoim dobrym znajomym, Alexandrem Zverevem. Będzie to siódmy pojedynek w głównym cyklu pomiędzy tymi tenisistami. Częściej, czterokrotnie, wygrywał Austriak, ale w ich ostatnim starciu, 13 maja w Madrycie, lepszy okazał się Niemiec. Ich bilans konfrontacji na ceglanej mączce wynosi 3-1 na korzyść gracza z Wiener-Neustadt.

- Na pewno nie będzie łatwo, bo on wyjdzie na kort niesamowicie zmotywowany. Rozegra swój pierwszy wielkoszlemowy ćwierćfinał i z pewnością będzie chciał przejść do kolejnej rundy - ocenił Thiem.

- To będzie dla mnie wyzwanie. Uważam, że po Federerze i Nadalu Zverev jest najlepszym tenisistą w rozgrywkach. Myślę, że będzie to pasjonujący pojedynek, na który niemieccy i austriaccy kibice czekali od momentu losowania. Możemy sprawić, że nasz mecz stanie się legendarny. To bardzo miłe - dodał.

Thiem will meet Cecchinato for the first time on Friday

Dominic Thiem is inching closer to peak form in Paris, where he reached the semi-finals for the third consecutive year in five appearances at Roland Garros.

The seventh-seeded Austrian served intelligently and controlled his single-handed backhand to draw errors from Alexander Zverev, who appeared to be hindered by a left leg complaint midway through the second set, in a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 quarter-final victory on Philippe-Chatrier Court.

Thiem, who has won 25 of his 30 clay-court matches this year, avenged his recent Mutua Madrid Open final loss to Zverev in one hour and 50 minutes. He now leads Zverev 5-2 in their FedEx Head2Head series, including a 4-1 mark in red dirt matches.

“It’s never easy if your opponent obviously is not 100 per cent,” said Thiem. “But he's one of the fittest guys on tour, and even for him it's maybe a little bit too tough to play three five-setters in the first rounds of a Slam. So I expected, somehow, that he [would be] a little bit tired, but still I'm happy how I finished the game. I let him run. I was doing what I had to do, and so I'm satisfied."

When asked how he reflects on his two previous semi-final appearances in Paris, Thiem admitted, “I'm a better player in general, for sure. There was another year of work where I improved and developed my game. I think this year I'm physically and mentally fresher than I have been the past two years. I know how to handle a Grand Slam now, how to get that deep in such a tournament, and I think everything gets better with experience.”

Thiem, under the guidance of his long-time coach Gunter Bresnik, will now recharge and prepare to play Italian Marco Cecchinato for the first time in the semi-finals on Friday. Cecchinato became the first Italian man to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals in 40 years with a stunning victory over Serbian No. 20 seed and 2016 champion Novak Djokovic.
You May Also Like: Cecchinato Stuns Djokovic In Roland Garros Thriller

Thiem

Thiem sliced his backhand low, forcing Zverev to hit up into the ball throughout the first set. The Austrian capitalised on his first break point opportunity on Zverev’s serve at 3-3, 15/40, when he slightly mis-hit a backhand crosscourt deep, which dipped late for a winner. Thiem completed the 39-minute set with his second ace, one of 10 winners.

Zverev, with three consecutive five-set wins in his legs, began to fatigue in the second set, helped by Thiem dragging him around the court. Zverev lost his groundstroke shape and paid the price in the third and fifth games with backhand errors that handed Thiem a 4-1 advantage. At the change of ends, Zverev had strapping applied to his left hamstring and was clearly frustrated by his inability to make inroads into Thiem’s service games.

Zverev left the court at the end of the set, but upon the resumption of play Thiem maintained his momentum. The Austrian drew Zverev to the net for a backhand pass to break in the third set opener and came close to taking a 5-0 lead, but was unable to convert three break point chances. Zverev was clearly unable to move as effectively as he had done in victories over Ricardas Berankis, Dusan Lajovic, No. 26 seed Damir Dzumhur and Karen Khachanov, but refused to give up.

Thiem, who, like Zverev (34-9), has 34 match wins on the year (34-8), has lifted two ATP World Tour trophies this year at the Argentina Open (d. Bedene) and one week prior to the clay-court major at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon (d. Simon).

"I'm going to take an MRI now after I'm done here," said Zverev. "I'm going to go back home and definitely not do anything and see what it is... I thought about (pulling out). I definitely thought about it, but I didn't want to pull out for the first time in my career in a Grand Slam quarterfinal."

The 21-year-old Zverev, the leader of the ATP Race To London for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in November, captured the BMW Open by FWU (d. Kohlschreiber) and the Madrid crowns, prior to a runner-up finish at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (l. to Nadal), had been competing in his first Grand Slam championship quarter-final.

Visit Official Roland-Garros Website

- Nadszedł czas, by zrobić coś więcej - powiedział Dominic Thiem po zwycięstwie z Alexandrem Zverevem w ćwierćfinale Roland Garros 2018. Dla Austriaka to trzeci z rzędu awans do półfinału paryskiego turnieju.
Marcin Motyka
Marcin Motyka
06 Czerwca 2018, 08:25
Udostępnij 0 Tweetnij Skomentuj 1

Getty Images / Clive Brunskill / Na zdjęciu: Dominic Thiem
Mundial 2018: newsy, wideo, zdjęcia, ciekawostki, quizy i wiele więcej. Sprawdź serwis na MŚ!




Roland Garros: Dominic Thiem lepszy od kontuzjowanego Alexandra Zvereva. Trzeci z rzędu półfinał Austriaka
W ćwierćfinale Roland Garros 2018 Dominic Thiem pokonał 6:4, 6:2, 6:1 Alexandra Zvereva. Austriak miał jednak ułatwione zadanie, bo od drugiego seta rywal zmagał się z kontuzją mięśnia dwugłowego lewej nogi. - Nie jest łatwo grać z przeciwnikiem, który nie jest w 100 proc. sprawny. Alexander to jeden z najmocniejszych tenisistów w rozgrywkach, ale rozegrał tu trzy pięciosetowe mecze i wiedziałem, że może być zmęczony. Na korcie robiłem to, co musiałem. Zmuszałem go do biegania - mówił po pojedynku.
REKLAMA

Wygrywając we wtorek, Thiem trzeci raz w karierze awansował do półfinału turnieju wielkoszlemowego i zarazem trzeci rok z rzędu zameldował się w najlepszej "czwórce" Rolanda Garrosa. Został też pierwszym w dziejach ery zawodowego tenisa Austriakiem, który zanotował co najmniej trzy półfinały w Wielkim Szlemie.

- Uważam, że jestem lepszym tenisistą niż w przeszłości. Ciągle poprawiam swoją grę. W porównaniu z dwoma minionymi sezonami sądzę, że czuję się lepiej pod względem fizycznym i mentalnym. Zdobyłem doświadczenie i wiem, jak radzić sobie w takich turniejach - powiedział.

O finał, w piątek, 24-latek z Wiener-Neustadt zagra z rewelacją turnieju, Marco Cecchinato. - To mój trzeci z rzędu półfinał w Paryżu i myślę, że nadszedł czas, by zrobić coś więcej - dodał.