In-form Thiem makes first Vienna final
Having won the Generali Open in Austria earlier this year, Dominic Thiem is now one match away from claiming another title on home soil.
Dominic Thiem reached his third ATP Tour final in as many months with a battling victory over Matteo Berrettini at the Vienna Open.
Home hope Thiem, a recent winner at the Generali Open and China Open, avenged his Shanghai Masters loss to Berrettini by coming from behind to triumph 3-6 7-5 6-3 in two hours and 33 minutes.
Thiem, the top seed, will meet Diego Schwartzman in Sunday’s final at the ATP 500 event, having made it to the showpiece match at this tournament for the first time in his 10th attempt.
After benefiting from Pablo Carreno Busta’s retirement on Friday, the Austrian’s task was not as straightforward in his semi-final against the third-seeded Italian, who had beaten him in the last eight in Shanghai a fortnight ago.
Home Thiem. @ThiemDomi is the first Austrian to reach the @ErsteBankOpen final since 2010. pic.twitter.com/MYyMjogGSM
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 26, 2019
He dropped the first set after an energetic Berrettini broke three times.
But Berrettini’s 28-match run of winning matches after claiming the first set came to an end amid a superb atmosphere.
After the pair exchanged breaks, Thiem made the decisive breakthrough to move 6-5 up in the second set before holding comfortably, levelling the match with a forehand up the line.
Thiem had won 10 of his previous 12 deciding sets this season and stretched that to a Tour-leading mark of 11 by breaking twice to race away with the third set, sealing victory with a backhand winner down the line on his second match point.
@ThiemDomi has reached his first final in Vienna!
The World No. 5 has defeated Berrettini in an epic match 3-6 7-5 6-3
@TennisTV | @ErsteBankOpen pic.twitter.com/Nvs0FBJiIM
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 26, 2019
Despite Saturday’s loss, Berrettini will reach the top 10 of the world rankings on Monday after his exploits this week and has boosted his hopes of joining Thiem in qualifying for the ATP Finals.
The second semi-final contained two players also hoping to reach London, as Schwartzman claimed a comfortable victory over Gael Monfils.
Argentine Schwartzman broke twice in each set to win 6-3 6-2 in 75 minutes, securing the win and a third final appearance of 2019 when Monfils fired a backhand long on his first match point.
