BERLIN, July 14, 2020
Dominic Thiem and Matteo Berrettini will compete in Wednesday’s men’s final of the bett1ACES held on grass at the Steffi-Graf-Stadion. Thiem defeated Italy’s teen sensation Jannik Sinner on a sunny Tuesday in Berlin by the score of 6-3, 7-6(5).
“I’m very pleased with my serve, which was key today. I hit a lot of aces and won many service points,” Thiem told journalists during his post-match press conference. The 26-year-old Austrian has arrived in Germany’s capital city after competing in his home event on clay in Kitzbühel. “I am pretty happy that I was able to adapt so quickly to the new surface and the new conditions.”
Dominic Thiem 🇦🇹 after reaching the final of the @bett1aces grass-court event at Steffi-Graf-Stadion in Berlin: “I’m very pleased with my serve, which was key today. I hit a lot of aces and won many service points.”
The World No. 3 will take on Matteo Berrettini 🇮🇹 tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/JlgVAfcau4
— TennisTourTalk (@TennisTourTalk) July 14, 2020
Berrettini continues good run of form
Earlier in the day, Berrettini fought past Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 10-6. The World No. 8 from Italy came back from a break down in the champions tie-break of the final set to convert his first match point hitting a beautiful forehand cross-court passing shot.
Berrettini also overcame the challenge of competing on three different surfaces over the last four of days. The 24-year-old played in Kitzbühel’s high altitude, captured the title of the inaugural Ulitmate Tennis Showdown in southern France on Sunday on hard court and has now started his grass-court campaign in Berlin.
“I love playing tennis. You have to give me a court and I will play. I also enjoy playing on the grass in Germany,” the winner of the MercedesCup in Stuttgart last year told former professional Markus Zoecke during his post-match on-court interview.
Thiem is also looking forward to the climax at Berlin-Grunewald. “A final on grass is not an everyday occurrence and of course I want to win it,” said Thiem. “However, I think Matteo will be the favorite. He won the ATP tournament in Stuttgart last year and played very well in Wimbledon. An advantage for me could be that he has played many tournaments in the past few days. Maybe he’s a little tired.”
Women’s final set
Due to bad weather forecast, Wednesday’s men’s final will be played at noon followed by the women’s final when top seed Elina Svitolina from the Ukraine will take on Czech Petra Kvitova. Svitolina beat Anastasija Sevastova from Latvia 7-6(2), 6-3.
Highlights 2nd Match if the Day! Svitolina vs Sevastova @bett1aces Tournament. pic.twitter.com/bHL2XAJ2sz
— bett1_ACES (@bett1aces) July 14, 2020
“I think it was a good match, lots of good rallies,” Svitolina said. “This is kind of like a first match for me. It took a little bit of time to get into the fighting spirit I would say.
“Of course, this year we missed the grass-court season, so I’m happy just coming back and playing on grass.”
Kvitova eased past No. 2 seed Kiki Bertens from the Netherlands 6-3, 6-2 in the final match of the day.
