Home favourite Dominic Thiem has kicked-off his campaign at this year’s Erste Bank Open with a hard fought 7-5, 7-6(4), win over Ruben Bemelmans in the first round.
Thiem, who is yet to progress beyond the quarter-finals at the tournament in Vienna, withstood some fierce play produced by the world No.134. In both sets Bemelmans succumbed at the closing stages. During the opening set, Thiem converted his fifth set point to break whilst his opponent was serving behind 6-5. That was the only time in the match where the Austrian managed to break his opponents serve.
Despite holding the 7-5 advantage, Thiem was pushed all the way to a tiebreak in the second set. But once again Bemelmans crumbled at the crucial moment, producing back-to-back unforced errors to send the top seed into the second round. Throughout the encounter, Thiem won 72% of his first service points as he produced seven aces.
“He was able to play freely and took a lot of self-confidence from qualifying – he actually played only one bad game – the one prior to 7: 5 in the first set.” Thiem said of Bemelmans during an interview with orf.at.
“The first match is always difficult, especially here in Vienna. It was an extremely cool atmosphere. Without the fans, I might have lost the second set and the match.” He added.
As well as the chance of lifting his first ATP title on home soil, this week is also pivotal for Thiem’s chances of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals next month. He is currently positioned in the eighth and final qualifying spot with a 515-point lead over his nearest threat John Isner.
Isner, who is seeded fourth in the tournament, required more than two hours to come through his opening match against Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie. The Wimbledon semi-finalist fired 16 aces and was unbroken throughout the entire match as he prevailed 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-6(7).
Isner will play either Gael Monfils or Steve Johnson next.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori was also forced to battle hard during his first round match against America’s Frances Tiafoe. The world No.9 held his nerve to close out the match 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-2, after failing to serve it out in the second set. In total he converted three out of his seven break point opportunities.
“I was a little bit down after losing the second set because from 5-4, I lost three games in a row,” Nishikori told Tennis TV. “It wasn’t easy mentally. I had to rebuild again my confidence.”
Nishikori could overtake Isner in the ATP Race to London this week depending on how the two players perform in Vienna. To do so, he needs one of the following three scenarios to occur :-
– Nishikori reaches semi-finals and Isner loses in round two
– Nishikori reaches the final and Isner doesn’t
– Nishikori beats Isner in the final
The former US Open finalist could next take on Karen Khachanov, who won the Kremlin Cup last week. Khachanov will play wild card Denis Novak in the first round on Wednesday.
Elsewhere at the tournament, Fabio Fognini downed Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 6-3, and Lucas Pouille defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4.
