Image: GEPA pictures
MAUTHAUSEN. “Thank you, thank you! The mood here is really good. I’m happy that I’ll still be there at the weekend.” With a smile on his lips, Austria’s tennis star Dominic Thiem waved to the rain-resistant crowd in Mauthausen, where he managed to make it into today’s semifinals at the 2nd SKE Danube Upper Austria Open (from 2 p.m., live stream on nachrichten.at) without losing a set .
Because Filip Misolic (3:6, 6:4, 6:1 against Facundo Bagnis/Arg) and Sebastian Ofner (3:6, 6:3, 7:6 against Hugo Gaston/Fra) celebrated successes and meet in the semi-finals, like last year, when Jurij Rodionov triumphed, there will definitely be at least one Austrian in the final on Sunday (2 p.m.). That is worthy of all honor.
The decision to prefer the Mühlviertel to the Masters 1000 in Rome is already paying off. Thiem, for example, will improve in the world rankings from 96th place to at least 89th place and outperform well-known long-term rivals such as Diego Schwartzmann or Stan Wawrinka.
Yesterday, after a solid performance and 102 minutes, Thiem prevailed against the only 17-year-old Croatian Dino Prizmic 6: 3, 6: 3. Today the Serbian Dennis Novak conqueror Hamad Medjedovic (19 years, ATP No. 214) is waiting for the first time on the tour.
“I only know him a little. A young player who can be dangerous and has nothing to lose. I try to do everything,” said Thiem.
“Crazy things”
For Ofner, Friday, May 12th, was a double holiday: Firstly, the Styrian celebrated his 27th birthday, secondly, he rewarded himself with a success and the associated career high in the computer (115th place, and rising).
There were no gifts from Gaston, who destroyed an armchair in the second set while chasing an extreme angle ball and crashed into the gang. After a long treatment break on the right ankle, the Frenchman continued the match, Ofner was unimpressed.
“Gaston does crazy things, he’s known for trying to push the opponents out and break the rhythm. I was just concentrating on myself,” said the winner.
Source: Nachrichten
