MAUTHAUSEN/STARNBERG, May 12, 2023
A trio of Austrians, headlined by Dominic Thiem, will compete in the semi-finals of the Danube Upper Austrian Open powered by SKE. The top seed of the €118,000 ATP Challenger Tour clay-court event defeated Dino Prizmic of Croatia in Friday’s quarterfinal match.
In rainy conditions on a packed Center Court in Mauthausen, Thiem capitalized on five of his seven break-point chances to secure victory in one hour and 42 minutes.
Flying high at home ✈️
🇦🇹 @domithiem reaches his first semifinal of the year after beating Prizmic 6-3, 6-3 in Mauthausen!#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/rxStEnM2Nm
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 12, 2023
“I played a solid match today against a really good young player,” said Thiem, who beat local qualifier Matthias Ujvary and Federico Delbonis of Argentina in the previous two rounds. “Matches like this are never easy because the young guys are always highly motivated and enjoy every moment on this stage. Dino demanded everything from me and it was a really intense match. I’m happy to get at least one more match – that’s exactly why I came to Mauthausen. The conditions helped me a lot again today, the ball didn’t bounce so high and the court was softer. I really enjoyed it again, every match is sold out and the fans create a great atmosphere.”
The World No. 96 will next take on Serbian teenager Hamad Medjedovic, a 7-5, 6-3 winner in one hour and 24 minutes over Dennis Novak from Austria.
“Tomorrow will be a similar match for me,” said Thiem. “I saw a few points from the quarterfinal. Hamad has really a lot of fire in his game and pushes himself incredibly. He’s a dangerous player. I have to get back to my performance and be fully focused from the start.”
Ofner, Misolic prevail
Earlier in the day, home favourites Sebastian Ofner and Filip Misolic booked their spots in the stage of the final four in Mauthausen. Ofner, runner-up to Dominic Stricker at the Advantage Cars Prague Open last week, rallied from a set down to outlast Frenchman Hugo Gaston 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in two hours and 11 minutes.
“That was a really exhausting match,” said Ofner. “It’s never easy against Gaston. He always breaks the rhythm and does completely crazy things. It was a very good match from me today. After his injury break I tried to keep the focus on me. He’s known for trying to rattle the players. I’ve been to four Challenger finals this year, but unfortunately I haven’t won a title yet. But it shows that I’m in good shape and can consistently play at a high level.”
Misolic had to go the distance to overcome No. 3 seed Facundo Bagnis of Argentina 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. The 21-year-old Graz native withstood four aces and broke his rival’s serve five times to prevail after two hours and five minutes.
“It was a very tough and difficult match. I’m just happy and relieved,” said Misolic. “I was completely nervous today until the last point and then I was down 0:40 when I was serving for the match. I was shaking again for a short while, but then I could play solid point by point and close the match with an ace. In the first set I had no answer at all to his game. I wanted to give him different balls at different heights so that he wouldn’t find a rhythm. Only in the course of the match did that work out. Now I’m looking forward to the semi-finals”
