KITZBÜHEL, July 8, 2020

Matteo Berrettini advanced to the semi-finals of the THIEMs7 presented by Soccercoin tennis exhibition in Kitzbühel. The World No. 8 from Italy secured a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Roberto Bautista Agut from Spain in his second round-robin match in Group Soccercoin following his straight-sets win over Austria’s Dennis Novak on Tuesday.

“I play better and better here and can adapt well to the conditions. I served well today. Perhaps I’ll treat myself to a schnitzel in the evening,” said Berrettini. Novak upset Karen Khachanov from Russia 6-1, 6-4 keeping his hopes alive to qualify for the stage of the final four.

Thiem continues his good run of form

Later in the evening, host Dominic Thiem celebrated his second win in as many matches this week. In front of a capacity crowd of 500 spectators, the World No. 3 edged past Andrey Rublev from Russia 7-5, 6-4 to join Berrettini in the semi-finals.

“It was a really great match and the atmosphere was brilliant. I’m surprised how serious everyone is playing. Everyone wants to win every point. It was my goal to reach the semi-finals at least and I’m really happy,” Thiem said.

In the other match in Group IFA, Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany beat Norway’s NextGen ATP star Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4.

The final round-robin matches in both groups will be played on Thursday followed by the semi-finals on Friday and the final on Saturday.

Photo Gallery (by Brigitte Urban):