Thiem was not able to take another big step towards returning to the top 100 as hoped. There is now a one-week break from tournaments for the former world number three, after which he has further increased his tight autumn program before Vienna: he will play in Gijon from October 10th, in Antwerp from October 17th (both ATP 250 tournaments), before he returns to the Week later at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
The world number 16. Cilic started confidently in Tel Aviv and won the first game on his own serve without a single point from Thiem. Up to 2:2 there were no break chances in the match. Then the Lower Austrian took the service from the Croatian to zero. But since Cilic managed the rebreak to 4: 4, the decision in the first round was only made in the tiebreak, in which Thiem used his second set ball.
The second sentence didn’t go to Thiem’s taste at all. The ATP-173. had to give up his service in a ten-minute game. After that it went much faster, because Cilic only lost one point in the next two games and took a 4-0 lead in a row. Thiem still managed to fend off three set balls when the score was 1: 5, but the second round went clearly to the Croatian.
A break decides the third set
The last set also began with a ten-minute rally, in which Thiem had the happier end this time after defending against three breakballs. The preliminary decision in the game finally fell in a lost service game by the Lower Austrian to a 3:4 deficit. Cilic then brought his service through and converted the second match point after 2:44 hours. In the quarter-finals, the Croatian will face either number five seeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp or Briton Liam Broady.
For Thiem it was the first defeat in the fifth duel with Cilic. Most recently, the Austrian celebrated an opening win against the Croatian at the French Open 2020, which was only held in September 2020. Before that he had been successful three times on hard court. When Thiem won the US Open in 2020, he defeated Cilic in the third round. Thiem also won against Cilic in 2019 in the Montreal round of 16 and in 2016 in the Brisbane quarterfinals.
“It was a fantastic birthday”
After Thiem had disappointed but congratulated fairly, Cilic drew a very positive match balance for him. “I think it was a fantastic match. It was at an incredible level,” Cilic said in an on-pitch interview, adding: “You don’t get many chances to play in a second round in front of such a big audience, thank you very much. It was a fantastic birthday,” said Cilic, who, like Thiem, was once third in the ATP ranking.
ATP 250 tournament in Tel Aviv
(Israel, 1.019.855 Dollar, Hardcourt/Indoor)
