GSTAAD, July 30, 2015
The two finalists of last week’s ATP 250 tournament in Umag were in second round action on Day 4 at the 100th anniversary of the Swiss Open in Gstaad.
Croatia Open’s champion Dominic Thiem remains in good shape, winning 6-3, 6-4 against Federico Delbonis in his opening match in Gstaad. The 21-year-old Austrian won 74% of his first service points and capitalized on three of his six break points to seal victory in 72 minutes.
Federico Delbonis
Dominic Thiem
Thiem adapted well to the conditions at Roy Emerson Arena. “The tournaments in Umag and in Gstaad are totally different. Last week we played at sea level and here we have to cope with the altitude. Luckily, I received a bye in the first round, which definitely helped to get used to the conditions here,” Thiem told and described his journey from Croatia to Switzerland.
“We had a long trip from Umag but my family drove the car. It took about nine hours and I was pretty tired in the evening. I enjoyed two days of practice ahead of the tournament and I played Davis Cup in Kitzbühel two weeks ago, which also helped to get used to the altitude.”
Thiem will face seventh seed Pablo Carreῆo-Busta in the quarterfinals, who opened centre court play, winning 7-6, 6-4 against Robin Haase. The 24-year-old Spaniard withstood seven aces from the Dutch and was very solid on his second service games, winning 67% of the points. Carreῆo-Busta hit clean from the baseline and was often successful with his forehand drop shots, serving the match out after one hour and 27 minutes to reach his second quarterfinals of the season, after he had made into the semis in Estoril in May.
Robin Haase
Pablo Carreno-Busta
Carreῆo-Busta will take on Thiem for the third time (1-1 head to head records). Last meeting took place in Como in 2013, when the Austrian youngster played his very first ATP Challenger final but eventually lost in three sets to the Spaniard. “We met two times, on Future as well as on Challenger level. We both have improved since then and therefore it will be a totally different match tomorrow. Pablo has already won two matches here and is in good shape. So it will be interesting for sure,” Thiem said.
Last week’s runner-up in Umag, Joao Sousa, also advanced to the quarterfinals but had to work harder. The sixth-seeded Portuguese needed to save three match points and had to rally back from a set and a break down to overcome Denis Istomin, winning 6-7, 6-3, 7-6. In a highly entertaining encounter, Sousa won 72% of his first service points and was more solid to close the decider after two hours and 33 minutes.
Denis Istomin
Joao Sousa
“I feel tired,” Sousa told right after his third victory over Istomin in their third meeting. “I didn’t play my best tennis but was lucky in the end to close it out.”
Sousa will face top-seed David Goffin on Friday. The 24-year-old Belgian had no problems to dismiss Argentine qualifier Horacio Zeballos, winning 6-1, 6-1 in only 45 minutes. The latter, however, didn’t seem to be at 100% but Goffin was happy to advance and answered the questions from the journalists in the Mix-Zone:
David Goffin 2nd round Gstaad 2015
David Goffin
Horacio Zeballos
