Thiem Powers Past Mannarino At Australian Open

Dominic Thiem arrived with plenty of confidence for his opening-round Australian Open clash on Tuesday against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. The fifth-seeded Austrian had won all seven of their previous ATP Head2Head clashes and moved to 8-0 with a solid 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 victory.

Although Thiem had slight dips in form during the match, he displayed new tools in his hard-court arsenal that will serve him well in Melbourne. He showed a greater willingness to step inside the baseline and move forward, knocking off winning volleys to shorten points.

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Mannarino’s crafty, all-court game has given him five career Top 10 wins and a maiden ATP Tour crown last June in ’s-Hertogenbosch (d. Thompson). But the 31-year-old Frenchman’s off-pace shots gave Thiem plenty of time to wind up from the baseline.

The Austrian broke first in the opening set and cracked a forehand winner for a 3-1 lead. Mannarino bravely saved a pair of set points while serving at 2-5, but Thiem showed the benefits of his grueling pre-season training in the next game. He converted his third set point after standing his ground in a brutal 27-shot rally, gradually wearing Mannarino down to take the early advantage.

Thiem showed signs of frustration in the second set when he started catching his forehand late and spraying errors off that wing. He earned an early break to lead 3-2, but sent a forehand long at 4-3 to gift it back to Mannarino.

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Although the Frenchman kept himself in the set, he visibly struggled to keep up with Thiem’s physicality and the lengthy rallies that dominated their clash. The fifth seed secured a break at 5-5 after prevailing in a 28-shot exchange and won 12 of the last 14 points to take a commanding advantage.

The third set was one-way traffic for Thiem. He won 16 of the first 20 points and eventually prevailed in two hour and 21 minutes. Thiem finished the day with 36 winners to 34 unforced errors.

Next up for the fifth seed is Albert Ramos-Vinolas or Aussie wild card Alex Bolt. Thiem holds a 2-1 lead in his ATP Head2Head with Ramos-Vinolas, but the Spaniard won their lone hard-court meeting four years ago in Chengdu.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/37el0dQ