Dominic Thiem has established himself as one of the best clay-courters in the world and he will try to take advantage of the surface when meets Grigor Dimitrov in Madrid on Thursday. Tomas Berdych and Alexander Zverev are also in third-round action.
(12) Grigor Dimitrov vs. (8) Dominic Thiem
Thiem and Dimitrov will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they battle for a place in the Mutua Madrid Open quarterfinals on Thursday. The head-to-head is tied up at one victory apiece, with Thiem having prevailed 7-5, 6-2 on the hard courts of Acapulco in 2016 before Dimitrov got the job done 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 earlier this year in Brisbane. Thus began an incredible season-opening stretch for the 12th-ranked Bulgarian, who went on to capture the title in Brisbane and won 16 of his first 17 matches. Since then, however, he is a mere 3-5. That number includes straight-set wins this week over Philipp Kohlschreiber and Ivo Karlovic.
After earning the final first-round bye as the No. 8 seed, Thiem took care of lucky loser Jared Donaldson 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday. The ninth-ranked Austrian is 23-10 in 2017, including 11-2 on clay. He triumphed on the slow stuff a few months ago in Rio de Janeiro and bounced back from a third-round loss in Monte-Carlo at the hands of David Goffin by making a run to the Barcelona semis (fell to eventual champion Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1). A French Open semifinalist in 2016, Thiem loves clay because he can camp our many meters behind the baseline and blast heavy groundstrokes at the opposition. Dimitrov is starting to play well enough again to be competitive, but the surface will not help his cause against Thiem.
Pick: Thiem in 2
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(11) Tomas Berdych vs. Alexander Zverev
Both Zverev (Munich) and Marin Cilic (Istanbul) headed to Madrid on the heels of 250-point titles. They had to face each other on Wednesday and Zverev, who opened with a 7-5, 6-3 defeat of Fernando Verdasco, scored a 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4 victory. The 19th-ranked German is now 20-8 this season and an outstanding 9-2 on clay (losses to Nadal and Hyeon Chung).
Up next for Zverev on Thursday is a sixth career showdown against Berdych, who should present a similar stylistic matchup to what Cilic offered. The 14th-ranked Czech leads the head-to-head series 4-1 (0-0 on clay), but Zverev took their most recent encounter 6-4, 6-4 last fall on the indoor hard courts of St. Petersburg. Berdych is a modest 17-7 for his 2016 campaign following routine wins this week over Denis Istomin and Robin Haase. A steep step up in competition may see the end of the 11th seed in Madrid, as Zverev owns the edge in both current form and surface.
Pick:Â Zverev in 2
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Zverev and dimitrov in 3
Zverev in hot streak will win in 2 even he will be tired because off the so many games of him this year. I have doubts against Thiem, he should probably win in 3.
Thiem in 3; Berdych in 3. Berdych has better precision than Cilic; Cilic tends to overhit or hit it too flat into the net. Zverev may be a bit tired, so Berdych may be able to take advantage of that.
Dimi and Thiem, I think Dimi is playing well but Thiem has clay as his fav surface and he’s playing well on it at the moment. I like both these guys and like to see their SHBH vs each other.
you should cover other important matches. such as Raonic vs Goffin
Dtrov in 3 and Berd in 3.
Great article! I agree with your predictions completely. Dimitrov and Berdych are not good clay players. Zverev in 2, Thiem in 2.
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Zverev took the first set and then was up a break in the second, but then serving at 4-3 up, Berdych broke back. Let’s see if Zverev can get mentally tough here and still close it out in 2…
Zverev wins again. What an impressive tournament from him.
in 2. Congrats to myself.
This Thiem vs Dimi match is turning into a classic!
Thiem finally wins it after saving a few MPs in the third set TB! Congrats to Thiem(my pick to win this match in 3) and commies to Dimi. Dimi really fought his heart out, just like at the AO vs Rafa, feel so bad for him that he has to lose like this.
wowzer
Dimitrov has seemed to frequently sprinkle in close as shit losses this season. The Rafa match was a quality contest and he didn’t have match points though it was heartbreaking. But the worst one I think was the Indian wells loss to Sock. Grigor lost FOUR match points and went on his mini slump right after that loss so that seemed to damage his confidence a bit. He probably would’ve made the semis too if he had won that match. And now today he has the set and the break then loses the lead then loses FIVE match points in the third set breaker. That’s just rough for Dimitrov. Still a quality season of two titles and the Aus open semis but the closes losses are tough. He will still probably move up one spot after this week to 11. Inching closer to a well deserved return to the top 10.