ATP Tournament in Kitzbühel, 1st round, Tuesday, 26.07.2022
Will he crack the top 100 again this year? Dominic Thiem is finally enjoying tennis again, collecting wins and improving from match to match. At home in Kitzbühel, the local hero naturally wants to shine in particular.
He already won the title here a few years ago, and now the fans are hoping for a clear success in Round 1.
It was a relatively clear defeat, but still one that Dominic Thiem shouldn’t have been too upset about. After a break of more than a year, he finally reached the semi-finals again last weekend.
In Gstaad, he had prevailed against Hugo Gaston, Federico Delbonis and Juan Pablo Varillas, but Matteo Berrettini was too strong. After losing the first set 1-6, he improved but still lost the second 4-6.
A defeat against one of the world’s best does not have to make Thiem sad. The latest result in no way diminishes his ever-improving performance. The former Grand Slam champion is finally back on the road to being able to annoy anyone.
He only won 53% of his points against Berrettini on his first serve, and he still has room for improvement here. The 28-year-old wants to move up step by step, after his long injury you are happy for every win with him.
Three years ago he was the celebrated winner of Kitzbühel. It was Thiem’s strongest phase, as he cleared the trophy at the US Open in 2020. Back then, the local hero beat Pedro Martinez outright.
Of course, he is not yet one of the title favourites this year, but for his first round, the German betting providers are more than optimistic that there will be another victory to celebrate.
1.15 to 5.00 on average, the 199 of the world is rated very highly, and that although his opponent is actually a good deal ahead of him with rank 157. Alexander Shevchenko is considered by many to be an absolute underdog.
The 21-year-old competes almost exclusively in Challengers, but with extremely manageable success. For him, it’s already a great joy if he gets through the qualification, it already worked once in Kitzbühel.
The Russian beat Lukas Klein, the subsequent defeat against Vit Kopriva would have meant elimination. Since Thiem’s actual opponent Richard Gasquet withdrew, Shevchenko slipped through as a lucky loser.
No finals, no titles, if we look at Shevchenko’s history, there is nothing to see. He has never been better placed than he is now, a win against Thiem would surprise everyone.
My Shevchenko Thiem tip
Dominic Thiem fans are finally looking forward to seeing the Austrian perform again, especially back home many are hoping for more strong performances.
The recent semi-final was an unbelievable success for Thiem, he could also draw positives from the defeat against Matteo Berrettini. Against Alexander Shevchenko, therefore, he is clearly seen ahead.
In my analysis I believe in a successful Tuesday, but since not everything is going smoothly yet, I can imagine that Thiem will struggle a bit. All in all, my predictions are therefore:
Thiem wins at over 17.5 games!
