Dominic Thiem cruised past US Next rising star Ben Shelton 6-2 6-2 at the Millennium Estoril Open to reach his first quarter final of the year.
Shelton earned the first break in the second game to open up a 2-0 lead. Thiem won six consecutive games with three breaks to close out the first set 6-2. The Austrian player earned a break to love in the third game and held serve at 15 for 3-1. The Austrian player converted his fourth break point in the fifth game to open up a 4-1 lead and closed out the second set 6-2 on his first match point.
Thiem beat his compatriot Sebastian Ofner earning consecutive tour-level wins for the first time since he reached the semifinals in Antwerp last October.
Thiem will take on either Roberto Bautista Agut or Quentin Halys. The Austrian player has moved up to world number 103 in the ATP Live Ranking and will reach the top 100 if he reaches the semifinals in Estoril. Thiem has a record of 3 wins to 8 defeats this year.
“The higher the ball bounces the better for me. Today was great with the warm weather. It was not windy. The courts are pretty fast and dry and dry and take the spin very well. It suites my game pretty good and I am excited to play the quarter finals tomorrow. I am playing better and better. Just the results in the first part of the season were not there. I love this part of the season. The European clay-court season. Shelton was coming up last year and this year with great results. It was only his second match on a clay court. O had a lot of respect going into the match, the way he serves and his athletic abilities. The balls are coming really fast, so I was trying to use my clay court experience today and it was very good”, said Thiem.
Miomir Kecmanovic eased past Juri Rodionov 6-0 6-1 to reach his third quarter final of the 2023 season. Kecmanovic earned three consecutive breaks in the first, third and fifth games to win the first set 6-0. The Serbian player broke twice more in the fifth and seventh games to close out the second set 6-1. Kecmanovic will take on either Hubert Hurkacz or Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
