It was not an easy match today for Dominic Thiem in Indian Wells. For his first match, he played Jozef Kovalik, who won the qualifications.
Thiem won the match in two tight sets (7/6(4), 7/6(3)) and 1h46 minutes.
In the first set the world number 13 started very well with a break to lead 2/0. But his opponent fought well. Kovalik took the Thiem serve and equalize to 2/2.
After that both players were good on their serves but Kovalik suffered a lot. He saved seven break points in the first set. Thiem saved one set point at 5/4 and had to play a tie-break.
With more experience the Austrian was more solid on key points and won the set 7/6(4).
https://twitter.com/tennisabstract/status/709107294089441280
In the second set it was the same scenario. Dominic Thiem made everything to take this precious break but Jozef Kovalik saved three break points with very good serves.
Both players had to play another tie-break. Again Thiem was very strong at this moment of the match to win the match in two sets, important for him.
In the next round Dominic Thiem will play Michael Berrer ou Jack Sock.
Good effort by #Kovalik but it's @ThiemDomi who moves into R3 with a 7-6 7-6 win. https://t.co/kRsZ9udpkC #BNPPO16 pic.twitter.com/qxhBWREZJx
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 13, 2016