TENNIS ATP Madrid- Austrian rising star Dominic Thiem pulled off a major upset when he beat Australian Open and Monte-Carlo champion Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round of the Madrid Mutua Open at the Caja Magica (the Magic Box) on Tuesday night. Diego Sampaolo
Interviews, results, order of play and draws of the Mutua Madrid Open
Thiem, the youngest top 100 player on Tour, rallied from a set down to take a 1-6 6-2 6-4 win over World Number 3 Stan Wawrinka who played his first match since his triumph in Monte-Carlo.
Few would have bet on a win for the Austrian rising star after Wawrinka dominated a one-sided first set in which he broke in the second game. The match went on serve until Wawrinka got a double break to clinch it with 6-1 after 29 minutes.
It looked like Wawrinka was cruising to a easy win but Thiem turned around the match the match in the second set. He won the first game before earning two break points. He converted it en route to taking a 3-0 lead. Wawrinka was not able to create any break points and dropped his serve again. He converted the first of his three set points to take the second set 6-2 forcing the match to the third set.
Thiem won the first game of the decider. At 5-4 the Austrian player broke serve on his first match point to clinch the first win of his career against a top-10 player. Thiem showed that he is a force to reckon with in the future. He played a superb match with his one-handed backhand.
Thiem has become the first Under 21 player to beat a top-5 since 2009 when Juan Martin Del Potro beat Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer to win the US Open.
Thiem started playing at the age of six. His parents Wolfgang and Karin are both tennis coaches. He has been coached by Gunther Bresnik in Vienna since 2004. He ended the 2013 season in the top-125 for the first time. He reached the quarter finals in Kitzbuhel and Vienna. He achieved his greatest win last year when he upset World Number 34 Jurgen Melzer in Kitzbuhel. He won two Challenger tournaments in Kenitra and Casablanca and lost in the Final in Como Challenger against Carreno Busta. He also won two Futures titles in five finals. Now he fulfils his dream to beat a top-3 star in a ATP Master 1000.
This year he qualified for Doha, the Australian Open and Rotterdam. In the Dutch city Thiem forced Murray to the third set and broke in the top-100 for the first time on 17th February. He qualified for the third round at Indian Wells where he lost to Julian Benneteau.