Novak Djokovic’s journey to his seventh Miami Masters quarterfinal was far from straightforward against rising star Dominic Thiem.
The world No.1 left more questions than answers following his straight sets win over the Austrian, which featured six winners compared to a shocking 34 unforced errors from the Serbian. In the Miami fourth round, Djokovic had to contend with a series of outstanding shots from Thiem, including a blistering 101 mph forehand winner. Surviving the onslaught of shots and capitalizing on the critical points of the match, Djokovic managed to claim the match in two sets.
Speaking about his battle in a windy Miami, the world No.1 spoke highly about the performance of the 22-year-old.
“He has very powerful strokes from the back of the court, so he either makes some really amazing shots, down the line mostly, and some great inside out forehands, or he makes a mistake,” Djokovic said.
“It was a straight-set win, but far from easy”.
The 22-year-old is considered as a key protagonist of the next generation, a group of players that are likely to fill the void once ‘the big four’ retire from the sport. The idea of the 22-year-old becoming a prominent member on the tour is one which is supported by Djokovic.
“Dominic is one of the leaders of this generation, no question doubt about it,” Djokovic said.
“He’s already established himself as a Top 20 player the last couple years. He’s getting stronger and more confident.”
Sweet little volley here from Thiem today, earning a from Djokovic. #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/pR2XnfNNoW
— Nick Leone (@NickyLeonski) 30 March 2016
Thiem has established himself as a formidable forced on the tour this year with two ATP titles in Acapulco and Buenos Aires. The 22-year-old has already defeated two top-10 players on the tour in 2016 (Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer). The Austrian wrote an honest review of his performance against Djokovic in a Facebook post. During Wednesday’s match Thiem had 15 opportunities to break the Djokovic serve, however, he was only successful on one occasion.
“Today were positive and negative things, I can take advantage of in the future. The good thing is that I really saw the difference between our last meeting and today’s, there was a big improvement”. The world No.14 wrote.
“I am happy about my performance here in Miami, I was able to gain some new experience and now I am heading, of course a little bit disappointed, back home”. He later added.
Awaiting Djokovic in the last eight will be Tomas Berdych. The Czech endured a tough battle against France’s Richard Gasquet, winning 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. The odds are firmly against the Czech, who has lost to Djokovic in 22 out of their previous 24 encounters on the tour.
“I’m just going to try and focus on my game, try to play some good tennis, stick with the things that are working well so far for me and just try to go for it no matter who’s going to be the opponent,” Berdych said about his upcoming quarterfinal match.
Djokovic is bidding to win his third consecutive Masters title in Key Biscayne. If he is triumphant in Miami, Djokovic will overtake Rafael Nadal with the most Masters 1000 titles in history at 28.
