Mercedes Cup 2016: Dominic Thiem vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber Score, Reaction
Dominic Thiem eventually clinched victory in a rain-interrupted Mercedes Cup final on Monday, beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4.
The match was strung out over two days after poor weather conditions in Stuttgart, Germany, on Sunday. It meant the players resumed on Monday with the first set precariously placed in a tiebreak before the final settled down into a fascinating contest.
It was Thiem who eventually handled these unique circumstances better, finding a brilliant groove after the restart, showing maturity on the key points and producing too much quality for his opponent. Here is a look back at the Austrian's comeback victory in more detail.
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Thiem Fights Back Again
Although neither Thiem nor Kohlschreiber are particularly huge names for casual tennis fans, the standards they've each showcased in the run-up to the final meant this was a highly anticipated final.
Both men were superb on Sunday, too, serving splendidly and keeping their opponent under pressure. Their initial efforts were made all the more impressive due to the first rain delay with the first set level at 1-1.
On resumption, the only break points in the opening set came on the Kohlschreiber serve at 1-2. The German was able to save all three, though, and the opening stanza clattered along towards a tiebreak. After Kohlschreiber grabbed a mini-break at 3-1 in that, play was called off again, and while the pair did come out for one more point, the conditions were quickly deemed unplayable.
As we can see, courtesy of the Wimbledon Twitter feed, despite a frustrating day in terms of weather, there were still some moments to savour:
When play resumed on Monday, it was Kohlschreiber who settled the quickest, winning the first four points of the morning in a row to quickly wrap up the first set.
At the start of the second, Thiem started to find the levels that were too good for Roger Federer in the semi-finals, grabbing an early break of serve and putting the pressure right back on his opponent.
That break aside, both players continued to look assured on their own serve in the main, with the next eight games going that way. It left the third seed with the chance to serve out the second set, and although he had to face a break point for the first time on Monday, he eventually did enough to level up the match.
Tennis reporter Tumaini Carayol was impressed with the aggression the 22-year-old was showing on big points in the match:
Having come from behind to win his last two matches at this tournament, the Austrian seemed to be carrying the momentum, and once again, he broke his opponent early in the set to go 2-1 in front in the decider; it was an advantage he consolidated to grab a two-game buffer at 3-1.
The youngster continued to impress for the rest of the set and, at 5-4, had the chance to serve it out. A double-fault at 30-30 gave Kohlschreiber a point to break back, but Thiem kept his composure to take the game to deuce before saving another break point.
From there, he was extremely mature, fashioning a match point and ruthlessly taking it to clinch what is his fourth title of the year. Per Tennis TV, it evidently meant a lot to him:
It's been a brilliant few weeks for Thiem. This was his first-ever tournament win on grass, and on his way to the victory, he's shown the kind of attributes you'd look for in players that are going to win the big tournaments, especially his unbending resilience and quality shot-making.
After making it to the semi-finals at the French Open recently and moving up to seventh in the world rankings, the Austrian showed here why he is a player to watch out for at Wimbledon this summer.
Reaction to follow.
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