BERLIN, July 15, 2020
Dominic Thiem is the first champion of the bett1ACES held on grass at the Steffi-Graf-Stadion in Berlin. Unfortunately, Mother Nature did not cooperate on Wednesday, as unrelenting rain forced the men’s final of the tennis exhibition to start with a delay of seven hours.
The top seed from Austria, however remained unimpressed and defeated Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-8.
We have our champion.🏆😎👊@ThiemDomi defeats Matteo Berrettini 6(4)-7, 6-4, 10-8 at @bett1aces. pic.twitter.com/gVxzHsEVWp
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) July 15, 2020
“I was lucky when I saved a break point at the beginning of the second set,” Thiem said during his post-match press conference. “Before the match I said that Matteo was the favourite on grass. The surface was pretty fast. We showed some good level of tennis. I am very happy with this win.”
The women’s final between Elina Svitolina from the Ukraine and Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic was supposed to be played after the men’s but was postponed to Friday. Matches to determine third place were called off altogether due to bad weather.
bett1ACES Part II to be played at Tempelhof Airport
The second part of the tennis exhibition will be held at Berlin’s Tempelhof Hangar on Rebound Ace and is set to start Friday. “It is always easier to switch from grass to another surface. The venue inside the Hangar looks really cool. I am looking forward to it,” Thiem said.
The Austrian will not be joined by Berrettini, who will go on holiday. The World No. 8 will be replaced by Russia’s Karen Khachanov. On the women’s side Julia Görgers was forced to withdraw from the upcoming tournament due to an ankle injury. Eighteen-year-old German talent Alexandra Vecic will step into action.
