The young Austrian prodigy Dominic Thiem emerged victorious in a closely contested match against the Argentinian Mayer: 6/7, 7/5, and 7/6
Some very fine tennis was played on Saturday on the central court of the Nice LTC, with suspense lasting until the tie-break of the third set. The tone was set from the very first game of the match, which lasted 15 minutes, so evenly matched were the players, with numerous errors from both sides as they took risks and avoided long rallies.
Their playing styles are quite similar: both players favor clay courts, are right-handed, and possess powerful serves, with Thiem having an exceptional one-handed backhand.
The advantage swung towards D. Thiem, ranked 41st in the ATP, who is a rising star in world tennis and could well reach the highest level after winning this 250 open and reaching the finals at the junior French Open in 2011.
The young Austrian relied throughout the match on an effective serve, forehand, and backhand, particularly during crucial points to come back to 3/3 and 5/5 in the first set, which he ultimately lost 10/8 in the tie-break. The second set took on a similar course, with D. Thiem managing to break towards the end, winning it 7/5 and making the Argentinian lose his serve for the first time that week. The physical, mental, and tactico-technical engagement of both players was complete until the end of the third set, where they wonderfully varied the trajectories in terms of speed, spin, and direction to create imbalance in the rally and immediately exploit it.
The young D. Thiem, who seems to have won over the Nice public, fell with joy upon winning the tie-break of the third set 7/2. He defeated the fourth seed of the tournament, the 28-year-old Argentinian Leonardo Mayer, ranked 27th in the world. A victory that is certainly a springboard for the rest of his career, earning him 250 points and 80,000 euros.
The day began with a very fine and closely contested doubles match, which saw victory in the super tie-break of the third set for the pairing of M. Pavic (CRO)/M. Venus (NZL) against J. Roger (NED)/H. Tecฤu (ROU): 7/6-2/6-10-8. The winners have only been playing together for a month and seem to get along wonderfully on the court and in life. They were not the favorites as they were facing the world’s sixth pair. Their winnings amount to 24,800 euros and 250 points for the world rankings.
See you in 2016 for the next edition of the Nice Tennis Open.
