KITZBÜHEL, August 3, 2023 (by Dietmar Kaspar)
Home favourite Dominic Thiem headlined Thursday’s quarterfinals action at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback win against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.
In front of 6,000 spectators on Center Court, Thiem had a bad start, dropped his first service game, hitting two double faults. Rinderknech remained solid on his serve with his aggressive game style and did not face any break points to take the first set.
In the fourth game of the second set, the 29-year-old Austrian capitalized on his sixth break-point chance. The 2020 US Open champion held all his service games in the set without facing any break points to push the match the distance.
With another break in the fourth game in the deciding set, Thiem moved on and closed out the match after two hours and 21 minutes.
DOMIIIIII 🔥@domithiem reaches his first semi-final of the season in Kitzbuhel! He fights back to defeat Rinderknech 4-6 6-3 6-4!#GeneraliOpen pic.twitter.com/g9GWOdEp57
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 3, 2023
“It is always a big support here for me by this fantastic crowd. It was a really close match today against a very strong opponent. I played a good level during the whole match, except the first game. Physically, I feel in a real good shape after all the three-set battles,” Thiem said during his press-conference.
The World No. 116 will next face Serbian No. 5 seed Laslo Djere, who defeated third seed Pedro Cachin from Argentina in straight sets. Asked about his upcoming opponent, Thiem commented: “He is playing very solid and has a lot of confidence after his great results in the last weeks.”
Top favourite Etcheverry survives scare
In the pair’s first meeting, top seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry was challenged by Daniel Elahi Galan from Colombia. None of the players lost their serve in the first set and the match went into the tie-break After a 6-3 lead, 24-year-old Etcheverry missed all three set points and Galan clinched the set, winning five points in a row.
At the score of 3-3 in the second set, Etcheverry won three consecutive games to reach the final set. In the opening game of the deciding set, the Argentinian capitalized on his third break-chance and did not drop a service game till the end to triumph 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-4 after more than three hours.
“It was a tough battle with both players showing incredible tennis today. After losing the first set, I went to the locker room to clear my mind, so I am happy that I made it today,” said Etcheverry.
Next up for the World No. 34 will be his compatriot Sebastian Baez, who beat Alex Molcan of Slovakia 6-4, 6-3 in 87 minutes.
THURSDAY RESULTS
Dominic Thiem (AUT) – Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Laslo Djere (SRB) – Pedro Cachin (ARG) 6-4, 6-2
Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG) – Daniel Elahi Galan (COL) 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-4
Sebastian Baez (ARG) – Alex Molcan (SVK) 6-4, 6-3
