HEILBRONN, June 8, 2023
Pedro Martinez of Spain headlined Thursday’s second-round action at the NECKARCUP by knocking out 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem. The 26-year-old from Valencia rallied from a set down to secure a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory.
In front of about 1,300 spectators on Center Court at the TC Heilbronn Trappensee, Thiem had the better start into the match. The No. 4 seed of the ATP Challenger Tour 125 clay-court event dominated most of the rallies in the first set but lost his focus in the following. Thiem missed a couple of groundstrokes and Martinez held the ball in play and waited for his chances. The World No. 135 was pretty effective, capitalized on all of his five break-point chances and served the match out after two hours and three minutes.
Watch our packed Centre Court during the Match of the Day 😍
(almost 360 😉) #ATPChallenger #Heilbronn #Neckarcup #Thiem #Martinez pic.twitter.com/zhsif75rQl
— NECKARCUP Heilbronn (@NeckarH) June 8, 2023
“I was pretty nervous at the beginning,” said Martinez after his win. “He started playing really well. He didn’t miss many shots. At the beginning at the second set I saved a break point and and from then on the match changed a bit and I was feeling better on the court.”
Thiem and Martinez met for the first time but teamed up to play doubles at the ATP 500 event in Rio earlier in the season.
“Dominic is such a great guy, He is even a better person than a player. He deserves all the good things,” Martinez was full of praise for the former World No. 3. Up next for the Spaniard will be No. 8 seed Pavel Kotov of Russia, who defeated Frenchman Dan Added 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and five minutes.
“We played two months ago in Marrakech and he beat me in 7-6 the third set. It was really close. I will try to do my best and I hope to win it this time,” said Martinez.
THURSDAY RESULTS Singles – Second RoundP. Martinez (ESP) d [4] [WC] D. Thiem (AUT) 26 63 61[8] P. Kotov d [Alt] D. Added (FRA) 62 62[Q] A. Santillan (AUS) d J. Kovalik (SVK) 62 36 63F. Diaz Acosta (ARG) d [LL] M. Janvier (FRA) 61 36 76(5)
Doubles – Quarterfinals[3] V. Cornea (ROU) / P. Oswald (AUT) d N. Barrientos (COL) / D. Hidalgo (ECU) 16 76(9) 10-1[4] A. Golubev (KAZ) / D. Molchanov (UKR) d J. Eysseric (FRA) / M. Reyes-Varela (MEX) 64 76(4)C. Frantzen (GER) / H. Jebens (GER) d B. Arias (BOL) / F. Zeballos (BOL) 75 62
Thursday Results & Friday OOP! #ATPChallenger #NECKARCUP pic.twitter.com/yOxQYj3068
— NECKARCUP Heilbronn (@NeckarH) June 8, 2023
