STARNBERG/VIENNA, October 29, 2020
Home favourite Dominic Thiem continues his quest for a second straight Vienna title by reaching the quarterfinals of the Erste Bank Open. The No. 2 seed of the ATP 500 event eased past Cristian Garin of Chile 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday evening.
Thiem sent down eight aces, didn’t face a break point and converted three of his own seven break-point chances to advance in 65 minutes.
Thiem Dreaming 👏
Defending champion @ThiemDomi sails into the #ErsteBankOpen quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-2 win over Garin! pic.twitter.com/DN52eGaRIT
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 29, 2020
“I played a lot better today, but I think the first match against Sachko was normal after the long break. He was an opponent I didn’t even know and who played much better than his ranking says. I found my intensity at the end and continued that well today. It was a very good match, very solid from start to finish. I played very well against a good opponent,” said Thiem.
Thiem will next face Andrey Rublev, who advanced to the quarterfinals when Italian teenager Jannik Sinner was forced to retire due to a right foot injury at 2-1 down in the first set. The No. 5 seed from Russia improved to 36-7 in 2020, including 16-1 in his last 17 matches, with 12 straight wins at ATP 500 events.
“He’s a great guy with whom I get along very well,” said Thiem of his upcoming opponent. “We practiced together at almost every tournament. He plays very quickly and almost flawlessly. He has now moved into the top ten, but for me he is definitely one of the three to five best players at the moment.”
In other action, No. 4 seed Daniil Medvedev from Russia rallied from a set down to overcome Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 after almost two hours of play to next face Kevin Anderson of South Africa.
In the top half of the draw, Italian lucky loser Lorenzo Sonego has reached his second ATP 500 quarterfinal of the season by beating Hubert Hurkacz from Poland 7-6(6), 7-6(2). The 25-year-old from Turin was a finalist at the Rio Open in February and will next challenge World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Daniel Evans defeated Austrian wild card entry Jurij Rodionov 7-5, 6-3 to reach the stage of final eight at ATP 500 level for the third time this year. The 30-year-old Briton was a semi-finalist at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February and will next oppose Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, who battled past No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 13 minutes in the final match of the day.
