Tennis: Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals of Gstaad

The former world number three beat Argentine Federico Delbonis after 1:55 hours 7:6 (5) and 6:3, and is thus well prepared for his return to Kitzbühel next week. Thiem will now meet Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP-3) or Peruvian Juan Pablo Varelas on Friday.

The 28-year-old Thiem, who will be competing at the Generali Open next week for the first time since 2019, will improve by at least another 43 places in the ATP rankings and appear 231. If he reaches the semi-finals in Switzerland, Thiem will return to the top 200.

Tim’s reactions

“The defining moment was definitely the backhand set-piece to pass the ball,” Tim admitted to the crowd, which was quite a lot despite the early start (10:30 am). “I played the whole match well. The first set was in control, but then I didn’t serve well when I sent the set in,” Tim summed up.

It was a very important win for him. “Every win is so important now,” Lichtenwörther breathed deeply. In the tiebreak he got “good energy” out of his box. “They also knew that the first set is important. I came from the Baastad quarter-finals and I really wanted to confirm that at Gstaad. I won two games again, which means a lot to me and I really need the rating points,” Thiem said.

reconsidering

It went well for Tim from the start, after a break to make it 4:2 he was already 5:2 ahead in the first set. But he wasn’t able to catch up after 0:40 on 5:3 of his serve, mainly because Delbonis helped him with an unreachable net on the last of the three break balls. Delbonis then tied with 5:5 and found two set-pieces in the tiebreak at 6:4. Tim, who was squabbling and scolded at this point, stuck to himself and after 66 minutes used the first set ball to make it 7:6 (6). This was the fifth tiebreaker since the stadium and the fifth win.

In the second round, the breakout to 2:1 meant the initial decision for the 2020 US Open winner. Tim took the lead more and more, Delbonis became more and more flawed, and so Tim was happy with his fourth win in five games. This was the third victory in the third duel with Delbonis.