Richard Gasquet has posted his first win over a top-10 player for 16 months after fighting back from a set down to defeat Dominic Thiem 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, at the Vienna Open.
World No.6 Thiem look on course to reaching the last eight of the tournament for only the second time in his career. Clinching the 6-4 lead with the help of some powerful forehand shots and solid serving. As the match progressed, the Austrian struggled to find a way to knock down the brick wall defence of Gasquet.
Eleven games went on serve in the second set before Gasquet secured the breakthrough he was chasing after. Leading Thiem 6-5, the Austrian began to buckle under pressure with a series of costly errors. One included a failed attempt to do a backhand drop shot on set point, allowing the Frenchman to force the match into a decider.
“There were occasions undisciplined by him, I do not understand some serve-and volley action.” Thiem’s coach Gunter Bresnik told Austrian media after the match.
Gasquet’s resurgence silenced the crowd at the Wiener Stadthalle. Thiem’s belief in winning rapidly diminished as he faced the prospect of failing to reach the quarterfinals of his home event for the seventh time in his career. In contrast, a more composed Gasquet stayed strong behind his own serve to seal his biggest win of 2017 in terms of ranking.
“The scenery was incredible, but the tournament is very well staffed. Gasquet is a very good player. Against who, you can lose once, even if it is not his best performance.” Thiem told orf.at.
#Viena | De esta manera Richard Gasquet daba el golpe en Austría eliminando al ídolo local, Dominic Thiem. pic.twitter.com/71mU4CFjTh
— Mundo Tenis (@mundotenis31) 26 October 2017
Gasquet has now reached the quarter-final of his third consecutive tournament after Tokyo and Shanghai. Despite hitting more errors than winners in the match (23-26), the 31-year-old benefited from his opponent’s mistakes. Thiem hit 40 unforced errors with 22 coming from his forehand side.
The French world No.32 will next take on Lucas Pouille on Friday. Pouille defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 7-6(8), in his second round match.
