Austrian top seed opens 2018 with straight set win over Donskoy

A young Austrian with dreams of breaking the ‘Big Four’ dominance set what could be the recurring ‘Thiem’ for the rest of the week at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open yesterday.
Top seeded Dominic Thiem, a powerful hitter of the tennis ball, nevertheless had to shake off some early-season rust and a tendency to get easily frustrated before seeing off Russian Evgeny Donskoy in straight sets in the first round of the ATP season-opener in Doha.
“I think it was a good victory against a tough opponent and that too on the 1st of January, after a pretty long period without any matches on the ATP tour,” Thiem said after his 7-6 (3), 6-3 centre court win at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
“After a good start, it got pretty close in the first set. At the end I’m satisfied with most parts of my game,” Thiem, who won a stunning 92 percent of his first-service points, added.
World No 5 Thiem is billed as a potential Grand Slam winner this year, especially on the red clay at Roland Garros, after his exploits in 2017 when he won 24 of his 29 games on the turgid surface, reaching two semi-finals and finals each before clinching the title in Rio de Janeiro.
That was his eighth singles title since he turned pro in 2011, and with six of them coming on clay, one could easily forgive him if he tended to get a bit hustled on the faster hard courts as was the case yesterday.
That gave World No 72 Donskoy some encouragement, especially in the first set, when the languid Thiem was found wanting in pace and timing which resulted in a few mis-hits, including a really wild shot that ended up in the stands.
But his overall supremacy was never in question as the Austrian always ensured he retrieved lost ground to put pressure on Donskoy as he broke back in the ninth game to eventually draw level at 6-6 and went on to dominate the tie-breaker.
A few minutes into the second set and it was plainly evident that Donskoy had lost his initial feistiness as Thiem settled in nicely and began to dictate the rallies, breaking the Russian in games five and seven.
The angles on Thiem’s shots proved too much for Donskoy, and with the Austrian also peppering him with a few aces – 11 of 13 coming in the second set – there was no doubt where the match was headed.
Thiem said the victory was particularly pleasing as it came on a hard court and that it would be his endeavour this year to do well on all surfaces.
“For sure last year was not good on hard courts. Two years ago it was way better. So I’ll try to improve again or to make better results on hard courts,” said Thiem. “Especially on hard courts, for sure I want to play better. At the end of the year, the indoor hard courts are going to be much faster, so that’s a little bit more difficult for me. But still I’ll try to improve there, but I think it’s not the right time now to think what happens in eight or nine months.”
Thiem said players need a bit of luck to win a Grand Slam title if they ended up facing any of the big guns, such as Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.
“Of course I hope so, but there are many, many question marks about it. Because if you play a Grand Slam semi-final against Rafa, who is playing amazing, you can almost play whatever you want and you won’t win.
“So there’s always a little bit, for sure, luck in there as well to make the next step and to make a big final or a big title. Of course I’m working hard to maybe achieve it this season.”
Seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco also advanced, winning the final 10 games for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Israeli Dudi Sela.
Spaniard Verdasco, who now resides in Doha, appeared headed for a shocking defeat when he lost the first set after being broken thrice by the Israeli.
Sela broke Verdasco three times to clinch the opening set and secured breaks in the left-hander’s first three service games in the second set to take a commanding 4-2 lead.
But after breaking back to close the gap at 4-3, Verdasco battled through a 12-point service game, saving two breaks points to avoid getting beaten, before closing the match with a great degree of comfort.

RESULTS
Singles (1st Round): Andrey Rublev (RUS) bt Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) 7-6, 6-1 (retd); 7-Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Dudi Sela (ISR) 4-6, 6-4, 6-0; 1-Dominic Thiem (AUT) bt Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 7-6 (3), 6-3; Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) bt Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 6-4, 6-3.
Doubles (1st Round): 1-Jamie Murray (GBR)/Bruno Soares (BRA) bt Marcin Matkowski (POL)/Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 3-6, 7-6 (5), 10-5; Borna Coric (CRO)/Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Filip Krajinovic (SRB)/Viktor Troicki (SRB) 7-6 (6), 6-4; 3-Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/Rajeev Ram (USA) bt WC-Malek Jaziri (TUN)/Mousa Shanan Zayed (QAT) 7-5, 6-2; Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) bt Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)/Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 6-2, 7-6(4).

Today’s Order of Play (from 3:30pm)
Centre Court
* Borna Coric (CRO) vs 2-Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)
* followed by 3-Tomas Berdych (CZE) vs Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)
* followed by Victor Estrella Burgos (DOM) vs 5-Richard Gasquet (FRA)
* followed by Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) vs (WC) Gael Monfils (FRA)
Court 1
* 8-Feliciano Lopez (ESP) vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)
* followed by Aljaz Bedene (GBR) vs (WC) Malek Jaziri (TUN)
* followed by (WC) Jabor Al-Mutawa (QAT) vs (Q) Stefano Travaglia (ITA)
* followed by Guido Pella (ARG) vs 4-Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)

Court 2
* Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) vs (Q) Mirza Basic (BIH)
* followed by Peter Gojowczyk (GER) vs 6-Filip Krajinovic (SRB)
* followed by Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs (Q) Matteo Berrettini (ITA)

Court 3
* Florin Mergea (ROU)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) vs 4-Ivan Dodig (CRO)/Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
* followed by Daniel Nestor (CAN)/Philipp Oswald (AUT) vs 2-Oliver Marach (AUT)/Mate Pavic (CRO)
* followed by Nikola Mektic (CRO)/Alexander Peya (AUT) vs Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO)/Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT)
* followed by Peter Gojowczyk (GER)/Florian Mayer (GER) vs (WC) Tuna Altuna (TUR) & Elias Ymer (SWE)

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