MADRID: On his seventh attempt Dominic Thiem has got the better of Kevin Anderson to reach the final of the Madrid Open.
The fifth seed, who knocked out Rafael Nadal on Friday, dismissed the South African 6-4, 6-2, in just 85 minutes. Despite previously never beating his rival, this was the first time they have clashed on the clay with Thiem wearing Anderson down as the match progressed. Hitting 18 winners to eight unforced errors. The encounter saw Thiem take advantage of Anderson’s hot and cold performance, where he was making mistakes on relatively straightforward shots.
“I was keeping my level up from yesterday, so that was a great thing. The way I started was also well. Even though I played really different, I was returning very far back today.” Said Thiem.
“Almost everything worked out. To beat him 4 and 2, it’s a very good result.”
A lengthy Anderson service game kicked-off the match with the 31-year-old struggling to find consistency in his shot-making. Enabling a relentless Thiem to capitalize and break for the 1-0 lead, benefiting from an error from his rival on his third break point. That sole break was pivotal to the outcome of the set as the world No.8 failed to find a way to fight back, despite a golden opportunity at 4-5. As Thiem served for the set, his first serve evaded him as he went behind 0-40. Still, it wasn’t enough to deny him as he battled back to deuce before sealing the 6-4 lead with the help of a forehand cross-court winner.
A US Open finalist last year, Anderson illustrated glimmers of his best tennis with the drop-shot and his strong serve being his best tactics. The issue was that it was nowhere consistent enough to trouble Thiem, who continued to apply pressure throughout the second set. Taking advantage of a double fault from his rival to extend his lead to a set and a break.
Strolling towards the finish line, Thiem continued to dictate the points and push his opponent around the court. Prompting a lacklustre Anderson to shake his head and look towards his camp in the crowd. After 85 minutes of play, Thiem booked his place in the final with a serve out wide that triggered another error from Anderson. His 27th of the match.
“I thought that I was pretty far away (from winning a Masters title) before this week started. Now I’m in the final again, which is amazing for me.” Thiem reflected about his Madrid run. “It would be definitely nice if I win the title tomorrow.”
The run in Madrid comes after what has been a roller-coaster past few months for the Austrian. During March, he was forced to miss the Miami Open due to an ankle injury. Leading into this week, Thiem has not gone beyond the quarter-final stage at his past five tournaments.
“There was a little bit of a lack of confidence in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. Even though I beat Novak, which was a huge result.” He admits.
“I had a little time out before Monte-Carlo because of the ankle injury from Indian Wells. Took me a while until I was moving my best again, until I was playing my best again. I think the level of my game has increased, especially in this week.”
Thiem will now play in his second Masters 1000 final after Madrid last year. Awaiting him will be either Alexander Zverev or Denis Shapovalov. He has a winning head-to-head record against both of those players.
