MAUTHAUSEN/STARNBERG, May 13, 2023
Serbian teenager Hamad Medjedovic headlined Saturday’s semi-finals at the Upper Austrian Open powered by SKE by knocking out Dominic Thiem, top seed of the €118,000 ATP Challenger Tour clay-court event in Mauthausen, 7-6(3), 6-2.
The 19-year-old Medjedovic won 75 per cent of his first-service points and broke Thiem’s serve four times to secure victory in one hour and 47 minutes.
A BIG win for 🇷🇸 @MedjedovicHamad in Mauthausen🔥
The 19-year-old stuns Thiem 7-6(3), 6-2 to book his spot in the final!#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/4gG1OrgN4m
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 13, 2023
“I knew how he was going to play,” Medjedovic said. “I’ve always watched him over the last few years. I knew that I had to show my best tennis if I wanted to have a chance. I managed to do that super today. I always believed in myself, so I’m not really surprised that I managed to win, but I’m overjoyed. My strong serve and forehand were my life insurance today. Now I want to enjoy the victory, in two to three hours the focus will be on tomorrow’s final.”
The World No. 214 will seek his third career title on the ATP Challenger Tour, his second of the season following his triumph in Szekesfehervar, Hungary in March.
“It was a poor performance today,” said Thiem. “I never really got into the match and never felt like I was in control of the rallies. In terms of the result, it’s surprising, but I didn’t manage to pull myself out of it. The longer the match lasted, the worse the feeling got. He served really well today and played with a lot of pressure, he just didn’t give me any rhythm – that was different in the other matches. But I wouldn’t read too much into it now, days like that are part of it. If I perform differently again next week, then it will be fine. I see my performance in training, I’m on a very good path.”
Misolic beats Ofner
Earlier in the day, Filip Misolic emerged victorious from the all-Austrian affair with No. 6 seed Sebastian Ofner, winning 7-6(1), 6-4. The fifth favourite withstood eight aces and broke his rival’s serve three times to prevail after one hour and 33 minutes.
“I knew if I wanted to win against Ofi I had to play well from the first point to the last,” said Misolic. “I showed a great performance and I’m overjoyed to have won. My goal was to play with variety, and I did a great job. Ofi made more mistakes than me in the important situations.”
World No. 129 Misolic is bidding for third Challenger career trophy, his second of the season after Rosereto, Italy last month. Medjedovic and Misolic will meet for the first time.
Arneodo/Weissborn triumph in doubles
In other action, Romain Arneodo of Monaco and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn from Austria captured the doubles title. The pair defeated the all-German combination of Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens 6-4, 6-2 in the final. The encounter lasted one hour and eight minutes.
Arneodo and Weissborn split €6,845 in prize money and earned 100 ATP Doubles Ranking points.
SHOWTIME 🍿
🇲🇨 Romain Arneodo and 🇦🇹 Sam Weissborn claim the doubles title in Mauthausen, defeating Jebens & Frantzen 6-4, 6-2!#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/SO4sUBcA4I
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 13, 2023
