KITZBÜHEL, July 7, 2020
Host Dominic Thiem opened the THIEMs7 presented by Soccercoin tennis exhibition in Kitzbühel with a win on Tuesday. In his first round-robin match in Group IFA, the World No. 3 from Austria defeated Norwegian NextGen ATP star Casper Ruud, who advanced to the semi-finals of the ATP 250 Generali Open here in Tyrol last year, by the score of 7-5, 7-6(4).
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“As all eight players compete at an incredible level, there was pressure. Every win is important because I really want to advance to the semi-finals here,” said Thiem, who enjoyed the atmosphere on Centre Court.
“It is very nice and so much better to play in front of 500 people than playing behind closed doors. I want to thank everyone who came. I enjoyed every second of the match and I hope the people too.”
Thiem will next take on Andrey Rublev. The 22-year-old Russian fought past Jan-Lennard Struff from Germany 3-6, 6-4, 15-13. “It was a thriller,” Rublev commented on his match afterwards.
Berrettini, Bautista Agut win opening matches
Over in Group Soccercoin, Matteo Berrettini from Italy beat Austria’s Dennis Novak 7-6, 6-3.
“I was really looking forward to the first match on clay in over a year,” Berrettini said. “I love the conditions and the altitude here in Kitzbühel. It is a great event with great players and it is definitely not easy to organize something like this at the moment. Therefore, many thanks to the organizers.”
In the night session, Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain secured a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Karen Khachanov of Russia.
