Top seed Dominic Thiem came back from losing the first quarter to beat the “Hammer” Matteo Berrettini 11-14 17-11 18-13 11 at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown on a very hot day at the Patrick Mouratoglou Academy in Southern France.
The first quarter went on serve until Thiem earned the first mini-break to pull away to a 5-2 lead with a volley into the open court. Berrettini fought back to 6-6. Thiem used his “x3 Winner” card, but he was not able to find a first serve and dropped both points.
Berrettini used the “x3 winner” card but he was not able to find the winner. Thiem made a double fault and Berrettini held on to win the first quarter 14-11. The Italian player won the ninth consecutive quarter.
The Italian player, who reached the US Open semifinal last year, pulled away to a 5-1 lead with his groundstrokes. As he was leading 8-4 Berrettini used his X3 Winner card, but he made a double fault at the first try. Thiem hit a passing shot and held on his serve with a forehand down the line, to draw level to 8-8 with three minutes to play.
Berrettini took the lead with his strong serve but Thiem used the x3 winner before hitting a lob to pull away to a 14-10 lead. Thiem won the second set 17-11 after coming back from 4-8 down.
Thiem earned a mini-break at 5-2 after a double fault from Berrettini. Thiem raced out to a 13-3 with a serve and volley. Berrettini used the X3 Winner card and fired two aces to claw his way back to 10-13. Thiem built up a solid lead with a minute to play and claimed the third quarter 18-13.
There was little to separate between the two players in the fourth quarter. They were tied at 6-6. Thiem used his -1 Serve card to make the breakthrough. Berrettini hit a down the line forehand passing shot to claw his way back. Berrettini hit an ace when he was using his 3x winner to take the lead. Thiem drew level to 10-10 after a double fault from Berrettini.
Thiem used his x3 winner card but he was not able to find the clean winner. Berrettini hit two serves to draw level to 12-12. Berrettini used his Steal Serve card for the sudden death. Thiem hit the fourth quarter 13-12 with a cross court backhand to improve his tournament record to 3-1. Berrettini has a 4-2 record.
