In the last event before his final appearance at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna Dominic Thiem At the start at the UTS Frankfurt, the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis was beaten 0-3. Local hero lost by a very narrow margin Jan-Lennard Struff the American Ben Shelton in sudden death with 2:3.
by Dietmar Kaspar
last edited: October 18, 2024, 7:14 p.m
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In his opening match at the show event in Frankfurt organized by Patrick Mouratoglou, Dominic Thiem from Lichtenwörth met Thanasi Kokkonakis. The Australian impressed from the start with his powerful forehand, while the former US Open champion mainly sought salvation with his backhand.
In the first quarter, the 31-year-old Thiem “gambled away” by selecting the triple joker, which his opponent was able to use effectively to win the first section 13:9. In the second quarter, the 28-year-old Kokkinakis also managed to keep the rallies as short as possible and won it 14:11.
In the third period, both players were unable to use their joker to triple the score, but “Kokki” still had the lead there with 13:10 and ended the game after a somewhat lucky net ball with a forehand winner to make the final score 3-0.
On Saturday, the “Dominator”, who is coached by his brother Moritz, will play his remaining two group games against the Canadian Denis Shapovalov (from 2:30 p.m.) and Ugo Humbert from France (from 9 p.m.).
Shelton wrestles Struff down
The German local hero Jan-Lennard Struff had to deal with Ben Shelton in his opening encounter. Both players impressed right from the start with strong serves, but the 34-year-old Struff was able to prevail by a narrow margin of 16:15 in the first quarter. As the game progressed, the American came into play more and more often with his aggressive forehand and secured the next two periods with 14:12 and 17:13.
Nevertheless, the Warsteiner Struff alias “The Thunder” fought back with frenetic cheering from the home crowd and forced sudden death with a clear 20:11 in the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough for the German Davis Cup player to achieve final success, as “The Mountain” Shelton was able to secure sudden death with a spectacular smash.
Struff faces France’s Gael Monfils and Lorenzo Musetti from Italy in his final two group games tomorrow. The semi-finals with the respective group winners and the group runners-up crossover and the final will then take place on Sunday.
Here are the results of the UTS Frankfurt
