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The first two hurdles were overcome and it wasn’t easy with the previous two top ten players, Marin Cilic (Kro) and Jack Sock (USA). Now US Open winner Dominic Thiem is waiting for the French Open on today’s morning shift (11am, live on ORF 1) at the largest stadium, Court Philippe-Chatrier, with Casper Ruud as third opponent.
And the 21-year-old Norwegian will surely be tough. This year’s successful race with the first ATP title in Buenos Aires, the final in Santiago de Chile and more recently in the semifinals in Rome and Hamburg before Paris is proof of this. As the current world number 25, Ruud is the best-ranked Norwegian player in ATP history and surpassed the previous record set by his father Christian Ruud (39). “He is very talented and can move up,” says Eurosport expert Boris Becker of the 21-year-old.
Sand is the favorite rubber of the man from Oslo, who tries to dominate rallies with his forehand. Thiem already knows that well. At his invitation tournament in Kitzbühel in early July, he had the advantage in the only duel between the two with 7: 5, 7: 6 (4).
The fact that the Norwegian has been on the court a lot recently could also speak for the Austrian tennis star. “Maybe he’s already a little tired,” thinks Thiem, who doesn’t attest to the exhaustion. “I think all the tension and concentration at Roland Garros hides that fatigue.” For the 27-year-old third in the world rankings, this is his fourteenth round of 16 in a major, and a possible blow against Triple Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka.
So far world number one Novak Djokovic has been in a hurry at Roland Garros. Yesterday he only played five games against Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania and was barely challenged in 6: 1, 6: 2, 6: 2. The 33-year-old will face tomorrow the round of 16 against the lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galán, the Colombian defeated Tennys Sandgren (USA Djokovic remains undefeated this year, only disqualification at the US Open leaves a flaw in his near-perfect annual record.
Pliskova already failed
Czech Karolina Pliskova, who was ranked number two in Paris, said goodbye yesterday in the round of 16. The 28-year-old, who also won the WTA tournament in Linz in 2014, lost to Latvian Jelena Ostapenko in 69 minutes 4: 6, 2: 6. Ostapenko, meanwhile, is the winner of the 2017 French Open, the The 23-year-old not seeded is currently only 43rd in the world rankings.
