The big absentees are Casper Ruud and Matteo Berrettini. The Norwegian defending champion canceled his appearance on Sunday, just as surprisingly as the Italian. Due to long-standing shoulder problems and on the advice of doctors, the number five in the world withdrew at short notice. Berrettini gave fatigue after his recent CoV illness as the reason for his withdrawal. Tournament director Alexander Antonitsch regretted the cancellations. “Even if you know that things like this can happen again and again in sport, it’s a real shock for us. The cancellation really hurts,” said the 56-year-old. On the other hand, he is happy that Thiem is on the up again.
“It’s always ups and downs in sport. I’m happy when you see how he pushes himself. It’s very different, with a few points and games you have the feeling that everything is back to normal,” said Antonitsch in the APA interview. “You can tell what’s going on with him, too. On the other hand, it’s also a sign that it’s just not as easy as everyone thought it would be, maybe he himself too. There is no blueprint for a comeback.”
Thiem “offer a worthy framework”
Antonitsch is happy with how fit Thiem looks and how he presents himself on the pitch again. Is a title in Kitz even possible? “You have to leave the church a bit in the village. We are very happy, we want to continue with 2019. Now just from the atmosphere and offer him a worthy framework, we will succeed on Tuesday (first match by Thiem, note). And then anything is possible: There will be setbacks again, but it’s just as possible that he goes ‘all the way’.”
Antonitsch emphasized that Thiem has recently won several important close games. “You’re happy too when you win 6-2 6-2. But fending off match points, fending off set points, surviving difficult situations – those are exactly the things you can’t train for.”
Thiem meets Lucky Loser at the start
After Berrettini’s cancellation, Thiem will not meet the French veteran Richard Gasquet as planned, but the Russian lucky loser Alexander Shevchenko. Against the world number 160. Thiem has never played before.
In any case, Thiem wants to confirm his upward trend after the Baastad quarter-finals and the Gstaad semi-finals: “Now it’s time to rest well for Tuesday so that I’m back there and can follow up after the two very good weeks. I know I can play well and perform well for the home crowd. I’m getting closer to my top level and hopefully I can take another step at home next week.”
Wildcards for Rodionov and Misolic
Thiem is not the only Austrian in the main competition in Kitzbühel: Jurij Rodionov and Filip Misolic, who recently made it into the top 200, received wildcards from the tournament organizers, and the Chilean Nicolas Jarry received the third from the licensor Octagon. Both Rodionov and Misolic face qualifiers in the first round in Kitzbuehel. Rodionov faces Argentinian Hernan Casanova, Misolic meets lucky loser Daniel Dutra da Silva (BRA).
“Jurij is a bit of a surprise box for me. I don’t know anyone who likes playing against him. If he starts halfway into the tournament, it’s uncomfortable for everyone to play,” believes Antonitsch. Antonitsch has had Misolic, who is even less well-known to many tennis fans, “on the radar for a long time because he once played so well at the European Championships. In between he works with Jürgen Melzer, but trains a lot in Croatia, a super tidy guy, fit, a great worker. He’s 20 years old, is in the first 200, why shouldn’t I give him a wildcard?”
Ofner and Melzer create Quali
In addition, Sebastian Ofner and Gerald Melzer qualified. Ofner also won the second qualifying game on Sunday without losing a set and defeated Vitaly Satschko from the Ukraine 6:4 6:4. Gerald Melzer, who flew to Kitzbühel immediately after his quarter-final exit at the Challenger in Tampere, defeated the Russian Ivan Gachow 6:3 3:6 6:3. After the cancellation of Berrettini (ITA/2), Ofner now has to deal with Richard Gasquet in round one, who would have originally been an opponent of Thiem, and Melzer meets the German Yannik Hanfmann.
ATP 250 tournament in Kitzbuehel
(Austria, 597,900 euros, sand)
