VIENNA, October 24, 2019
Dominic Thiem has reached his third quarterfinal at the Erste Bank Open by celebrating his first match win against Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco in the pair’s fifth tour meeting on Thursday afternoon.
The top seed from Austria won 90 per cent of his first-service points and broke Verdasco’s serve three times to secure a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory after one hour and 47 minutes.
An 1⃣1⃣th quarter-final in 2019 awaits for @ThiemDomi!
The top seed defeats Verdasco for the first time in his career 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the @ErsteBankOpen quarter-finals 💪
🎥: @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/w2yNd6Jovw
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 24, 2019
“The first set showed that I have never won against him. My only really bad service game was the first, because I also served two double faults. But then I started to find my way into the match, served well and also showed better returns. In the end, that was also the key to success,” said Thiem, who will next take on Pablo Carreno Busta. The 28-year-old Spaniard rallied past Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-1 in two hours and 16 minutes.
Later in the day, Gael Monfils avenged last week’s loss in Antwerp to Italian teenager Jannik Sinner. The No. 4 seed from France fired 17 aces to seal a 6-3, 7-6(8) victory in one hour and 25 minutes. Monfils will next oppose Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene, who beat French veteran Gilles Simon 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 after two hours and two minutes.
Russian Andrey Rublev eased past Hyeon Chung of South Korea to set a quarterfinal clash with No. 3 seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini. Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman, the tournament’s No. 5, battled past US-American Sam Querrey 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(5) to face second favourite Karen Khachanov of Russia.
