2 things that stood out in Dominic Thiem's semifinal win over Laslo Djere at the Austrian Open
Dominic Thiem edged past fifth seed Laslo Djere 6(3)-7, 7-5, 7-6(8) in a thriller of a semifinal at the Austrian Open in Kitzbuhel last Friday, August 4. The match lasted for almost three hours, as the 29-year-old somehow scraped through in the end.
Thiem had to save as many as five match points before coming out on top. The Austrian thus reached his first ATP final since 2020, where he will meet Sebastian Baez on Saturday. Should he win the title on his home soil, it might go a long way towards rejuvenating his career.
On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in Thiem's win against Djere:
#1 Laslo Djere tried to dominate proceedings from the mid-court
Laslo Djere was the more aggressive of the two players, especially in the first two sets. He hit a lot of approaches before venturing forward and also finished a number of points from the mid-court. However, Dominic Thiem defended well along the baseline for the most part and managed to hold his own in most of the rallies.
The first set went into a tie-break that the 28-year-old Serb managed to win in the end. He thus drew the first blood to go 1-0 up and take the upper hand initially.
#2 Dominic Thiem fought back well and showed exceptional grit in the final set
Dominic Thiem took more risks in the second set, hitting his groundstrokes from the baseline with more venom. Laslo Djere tried to put some pressure on his opponent's backhand through his inside-out forehand, but the latter held firm.
Thiem broke Djere once in the second set to win it and draw level. The match thus veered into the third set, which again saw a tough fight between the two. Djere led 6-5 at one stage and had a match point in the 12th game of the set, but Thiem saved with a brilliant inside-in forehand.
The Austrian then held his serve to take the set into a tie-break and saved a few more match points in it. He then won the tie-break 10-8 to register a memorable win that should give him much confidence ahead of the final.
Djere won 74% of the points on his second serve in the match against Thiem’s 66%. However, the 2020 US Open winner held his nerve during the key moments to emerge victorious in the end. He will start as the favorite in Saturday’s final against Sebastian Baez.