PETE ZIEBRON
After spending two full days at Indian Wells this year, the play and performances of three players jumped out at me: Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and David Goffin. Last year in Cincinnati, I watched Zverev and Goffin lose matches, despite competing exceptionally well. Two years ago in Cincinnati, I saw Thiem lose to a veteran American Wild Card Robby Ginepri, who was nearing the end of his career.
Earlier in the year, Thiem won the 4th tournament of his career in Buenos Aires, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. A few weeks later, Thiem would win his 5th career title in Acapulco. These facts were not lost on the crowd at Indian Wells who was intrigued with the play of this upstart Austrian.
This March, I joined Dominic Thiem's match against Jack Sock in progress, early in the 2nd set. Thiem won the opening set 7-5 before Sock rallied to level the match, winning the 2nd set tiebreaker 7-5.
All of the momentum was now riding with Sock as the pro-American crowd on Stadium 2 shouted their encouragement to the Nebraskan. Concurrently, Sock was yelling in the direction of Thiem's box and had to be verbally restrained by Chair Umpire Carlos Bernardes at the conclusion of the second set. It was all happening on Stadium 2 - or so it seemed.
Thiem broke Sock to open the 3rd set and quickly raced to a 5-0 lead and even served for the match before getting broken. No worries for Thiem however as he broke Sock back to win the match - having broken the American four times in the final set after losing the second set.
The Indian Wells crowd was stunned as Sock had no answers for Thiem and his inspired play in the third set. Thiem would go on to lose in the next round to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The following week in Miami, he would win two rounds before falling to eventual Champion Novak Djokovic.
Dominic Thiem continued to play well on the European clay courts this spring, where he won his 3rd title of the year in Nice. He also appeared in the Munich final, losing to Phillip Kohlschreiber. In addition, Thiem defeated Roger Federer at the Rome Masters.
Tomorrow, Dominic Thiem will play Marcel Granollers in the 4th round at Roland Garros. The 13th seed has already advanced further than previously at Roland Garros and has matched his best effort at a major, equalling his round of 16 berth at the 2014 US Open. Should Thiem win, he will play the winner of the David Goffin - Ernests Gulbis match in the Quarterfinals.
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