A strong autumn finish should bring Dominic Thiem back into the top 100 in the world before the Australian Open next January – that’s the plan of the US Open winner of 2020. In Gijon today it’s up against the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, who was number four some. If, after Gstaad, he also makes it to the semi-finals in the north of Asturias, he will move up to around 130 in the ATP ranking. Who will be the best Austrian next Monday also depends on Jurij Rodionov’s performance in Saint-Tropez.
“It’s still a bit up and down. Monday was really good, Wednesday I maybe wanted too much,” said Thiem after the hard-fought 3: 6, 6: 4, 6: 0 against the American Marcos Giron.
It won’t be any easier against clay court specialist Cerundolo, who won his first ATP title in Baastad this year. The two have never met before, but the Argentinian surprised this season by reaching the semi-finals at the Masters in Miami. “I have to make sure that I play freely from the start and don’t pull the handbrake too much,” said Thiem, who was out for months because of his wrist injury in 2021.
Thiem has held 13 wins and 13 defeats at tour level in 2022 so far. The “prestige duel” for the ÖTV number one will not play a major role in Thiem’s mind, because his big goal for the rest of the season is clearly a quick return to the top 100. The 23-year-old Rodionov won the Challenger in Saint- Tropez already reached the quarter-finals yesterday, which would put him in front of the ex-world number three even if Thiem reached the semi-finals.
Grabher is missing against Latvia
Austria’s current number one, Julia Grabher, will not be available for the Billie Jean King Cup play-offs against Latvia in Schwechat on November 11-12. The world number 86. and protégé of ex-Thiem supervisor Günter Bresnik, on the other hand, would like to collect more points on the South America tour, she has now announced.
Source: Nachrichten
