Dominic Thiem after the labor victory over Satschko in the Erste Bank Open round of 16 – Magazin Sport Nachrichten

Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem claimed his first win on the tour after Corona parted ways from the Grand Slam stages on Tuesday. The 27-year-old won the Erste Bank Open against Lucky Loser Witalij Satschko 6: 4.7: 5.

The 23-year-old Ukrainian competed in the main competition for the injured Japanese Kei Nishikori in Vienna the night before. Thiem’s ​​opponent for Thursday’s round of 16 was determined between Chilean Cristian Garin and Swiss Stan Wawrinka.

The fact that it wasn’t the former top ten, but the little-known 529 in the world rankings that was on the other side of the net, didn’t make things any easier for Thiem. As the game progressed, Satschko, who had also risen through the ranks, played with increasing courage and strength, receiving Thiem’s ​​serve four times. In the first game of his career tour, the glaring underdog made up for large deficits in both sets, making the game exciting.

Thiem, on the other hand, could hardly resort to empirical values ​​against Eastern Europeans. “I saw some of his matches in qualifying: he (Pierre-Hugues, note) beat Herbert and then lost in three sets to (Norbert) Gombos. Everyone who plays there can play tennis really well.” These two games would also have helped Satschko. For Thiem himself, on the other hand, it was the first match of the tour since they lost the quarter-finals in Paris, or exactly after three weeks.

Since returning to normality is not easy. “I swam in a full wave of euphoria in New York and Paris, then I had to shut down the entire system completely,” Thiem explained in an on-court interview. “And then it’s never easy to play the first game. Especially against an opponent I didn’t even know. So the omens weren’t easy.” The fans would have helped him: “Thank you all.”

The US Open winner emphasized how important and how unusual the support from the stands is today. “It is an incredible feeling, especially with this state of mind in a difficult phase for all of us. I often played the last tournaments without people. It is wonderful to return to one of the most important tournaments there is for me. And to play in front of thousands of people who created a great atmosphere again today. “

Before that, around 1,000 people in the arena had seen Thiems lead 5: 1 in the first set. Thereafter, Satschko made up both breaks and returned to 5: 4. But then Thiem held back and decisively took his opponent’s serve once more. However, Thiem did not play liberated in the second set, with a lot of effort he made it 4: 1. And again Satscho appeared – 4: 4, 5: 5. After 1:47 hours, the victory, of course, was arranged .

Especially in the later games of the game, a high-class match developed. After a staggered game before that, Thiem couldn’t blame himself too much, but Satschko completely objected. “I certainly had a hard time getting into the game, I quit my serve too often,” Thiem summed up. “But overall I’m satisfied. Especially at the end, the last matches were of good intensity. Overall, it was a lot of fun again.”

Chilean Cristian Garin is Thiem’s ​​rival in the round of 16, the two meet for the first time. The 24-year-old South American beat Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6: 4.6: 7 (9), 6: 3. Already close to quick success in the second set, he led in the tie-break 4: 1, but finally Wawrinka used his eighth chance to even the set. In the third round, the break decided Garins to 2: 0, then served and thus tied head-to-head at 1: 1.

For Thiem, the match against Satschko became tighter than he would have liked. “In fact, I have trained well the last days, with very good opponents,” Thiem said that everything went well in preparation. “But a game is a completely different story, not so easy. You can also go in the pants. If I play badly, I can lose. Definitely you have to improve something for Thursday, first once a good exercise.”

Thiem would like to bring the high intensity of the last games against Satschko with him to the game against Garin. “I’m trying to follow his example. Garin is a very, very solid player, he has no weaknesses and a really good backhand.” The South American has split his four ATP tennis titles so far between last and this year, this year he struck before Corona’s break in Cordoba and Rio de Janeiro. After that, Garin had a career record at age 18, and is currently ranked 22nd in the world.

The 24-year-old from Santiago won all his titles on clay. And that’s where Thiem wants to start: “I think he feels a little more comfortable in the arena. I want to start and make the game faster,” Thiem decided. No doubt there will also be valuable advice for Thiem from coach Nicolas Massu, who has already had his compatriot under his wing several times as the Chilean Davis Cup coach.

Thursday will be Austria Day at the Wiener Stadthalle, because Jurij Rodionov will also play his round of 16. After his sensational win against Denis Shapovalov on Monday, a seemingly easier task awaits him, Daniel Evans is ranked 33rd in the world. but still 120 places better than Austria’s number three. Rodionov, of course, has shown that he can bite into that task. Briton Evans remains without an ATP title and has participated in two finals.