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While half of Europe is locked in, tennis is played unimpeded in the ATP finals in London. That is the good news. And the other: Dominic Thiem is doing well. The world number three got off to a perfect start Sunday night and created a good starting point with a 7: 6, 4: 6, 6: 3 win over defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas. Thiem is already in the ATP meeting of the season for the fifth time and has avoided having his back against the wall after an opening loss in the second match of the “London 2020” group. After all: this is now against Rafael Nadal.
World number two Spain defeated Vienna winner Andrej Rublew of Russia 6: 3 and 6: 4 in the second group match on Sunday. Thiem, who advanced to the semifinals as a group winner after two group wins over Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic last year, will face the third player of the big three on Tuesday (not before 3pm CET / Sky) this Time in London, what a first time in the final. For Thiem it is already the fifteenth duel with the 13-time winner of the French Open. In the head-to-head he may be 5: 9 behind, but he won the last duel in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open last January with 7: 6, 7: 6, 4: 6, 7: 6. In the game Next Tuesday’s group Thiem, Tsitsipas and Rublew will meet, on Thursday Thiem will play his group match against Rublew.
“Nadal is Nadal”
For the Austrian, the initial victory was especially important mentally. “I am happy to have ended the match on a positive note,” Thiem said before his next training session on Monday. “I hope I can improve on Tuesday.” And referring to Nadal, he said: “Nadal is Nadal, he is the favorite in all the tournaments. I also think that he is fitter and better prepared than in recent years, simply because the season was not that long.”
Nadal had shown in his recent success over Rublew that this assessment is not entirely wrong. And he was also happy about his “positive start” in his 10th ATP final, where he finally wants to secure the title that he still lacks at the Masters. “My serve worked very well today. Now I have a very difficult match against Dominic in front of me, but I managed to win in straight sets. That gives me confidence,” Nadal said.
Dominic Thiem will also need self-confidence. In any case, he considers the surface conditions at the O2 stadium, which this year is not packed with the usual 17,500 fans, to be “really fast”. That is why the serve, especially that of the outside world, is “really important”. “Once you do the serve well, the point is most likely yours.”
As grateful as Thiem is that he can even stumble upon his sport amid the coronavirus pandemic, it is also mentally draining for him to play without a spectator. Life regulated in the bubble without any distraction is also bothering him. “The atmosphere of 17,000 people brings so much positive energy that it is missing. Now you have to cheer yourself up all the time, give yourself energy.” With the exception of the hotel and the lobby, Thiem sees nothing. There are no distractions like going to a restaurant or short trips. “It’s tough because we could have three minutes of fresh air and not see the sun. But it’s still great that the tournament is going on.” The winner of the ATP Finals will be determined next Sunday.
Sabalenka wins in Linz
The world of women’s tennis was also delighted that Upper Austria Ladies Linz was able to conclude successfully before closing. Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka secured victory here on Sunday. The 22-year-old won against Elise Mertens of Belgium 7: 5, 6: 2 in the final of the most important women’s national tournament. Sabalenka is also the latest winner of the 2020 WTA season, which was badly affected by the crisis.lane / what)
