Thiem Ends Hard-Court Final Drought In St. Petersburg
22 September 2018 01:57
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Dominic Thiem ended a two-year hard-court final drought on Saturday by reaching the final at the St. Petersburg Open, beating Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-3.
The Austrian, whose most recent championship match appearance on the surface came at the 2016 Moselle Open, advanced after 85 minutes, landing 15 aces and saving the only break point he faced en route to victory. Thiem is bidding to lift three or more tour-level titles for the third time in four years (also 2015, 2016).
"I am very, very happy," said Thiem. "I played a very good match today, with my first victory over Roberto which is great. I am in the final tomorrow and I could take my first indoor title, which would mean a lot to me."
Having reached his first hard-court Grand Slam quarter-final at the US Open earlier this month, Thiem is showcasing his best form this season. This year's Roland Garros finalist owns a Tour-leading 47 victories (47-15) this year, two more than nearest rivals Rafael Nadal (45-4) and Alexander Zverev (45-14).
Bautista Agut was also aiming to lift his third trophy of the season after wins in Auckland and Dubai at the start of the season. The Spaniard has now been eliminated in the semi-finals in each of the past four editions of the St. Petersburg Open. Bautista Agut owns a 13-6 record at the tournament.
Thiem will need to defeat 2012 champion Martin Klizan for the first time in four FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings if he is to capture his first indoor and 11th overall tour-level trophy on Sunday. Klizan reached his seventh tour-level final, recovering from a set down to beat 2016 finalist Stan Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
"I lost three times against [Klizan]. always very close," said Thiem. "I hope that I can turn the tables tomorrow, but he is very good in finals. He has never lost one. So I need to be at my very best to succeed."
The 2012 champion extended his unbeaten record to nine matches at the Russian event, winning 80 per cent of first-serve points and converting three of four break points. Klizan made the decisive move at 5-5 in the decider, breaking serve with a backhand drop volley before clinching victory after two hours and 17 minutes.
The World No. 65, who fell to No. 181 in the ATP Rankings on 26 February, improves to 19-6 this season and earns his first victory over Wawrinka in their four-match FedEx ATP Head2Head series.
"My tactics were to try and play my game," said Klizan. "I am happy with my service games today which helped me many, many times. it was a very close match. I won this match but I could have also lost it in one second. Today, it was on my side."
Tied with Ernests Gulbis for most tour-level final victories without a loss (6), Klizan will attempt to lift his second tour-level trophy of 2018 in Sunday's final. Two months ago, the 29-year-old captured his sixth ATP World Tour crown at the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel (d. Istomin).
Former World No. 3 Wawrinka was bidding to reach his first tour-level final since Roland Garros last year. The Swiss, who also made it to the Diema Xtra Sofia Open semi-finals in February, drops to 6-2 in St. Petersburg.
"I am disappointed and sad with the loss, for sure, especially in the semi-finals. but in general it was a good tournament," said Wawrinka. "I had some good matches.the performance in the week was good and positive."
Did You Know?
Each of Wawrinka and Klizan's four FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings have required a deciding setreadfullarticle
