The No. 1 seed in Munich is gone and the No. 2 seed never even showed up, but Nos. 3 and 4 are left standing as championship Sunday arrives. It will be Dominic Thiem and Philipp Kohlschreiber battling for a 250-point title.
Dominic Thiem and Philipp Kohlschreiber will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they square off in the BMW Open final on Sunday. Their only previous meeting came last summer on the clay courts of Kitzbuhel, where Kohlschreiber prevailed 6-0, 7-6(6) to book his spot in the title match of that tournament.
Fast forward almost 10 months and Thiem is playing the best tennis of his life while Kohlschreiber is still going strong at 32 years old. Thiem is the ATP leader in match victories this season with 29, one ahead of Novak Djokovic after the 22-year-old Austrian overcame Alexander Zverev in three sets on Saturday. He preceded that result with defeats of Santiago Giraldo and Ivan Dodig.
While Kohlschreiber has been solid throughout 2016, he has showcased especially strong tennis of late. The fourth-seeded German is 15-5 in his last 20 matches following wins in Munich over Florian Mayer, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Fabio Fognini. He has not dropped a set and no set has even been more competitive than 6-4. This is Kohlschreiber’s first final of the year on the heels of semifinal performances in Rotterdam and Barcelona.
This should be an entertaining contest between two players who took the doubles court together in Indian Wells (they were also signed up in Miami before Kohlschreiber withdrew). Although Thiem is a considerable favorite on paper, Kohlschreiber has been the undisputed best player throughout this week. This feels like the world No. 27’s title to win or lose, and he will most likely win it in front of a home crowd and against an opponent who has been decent but far from dominant so far on the clay-court swing.
Pick: Kohlschreiber in 3
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who ya got?
I’m tempted to pick Phillip and I can definitely see him winning but at the same time I have a feeling Thiem will pull it out. Then again I may regret choosing him considering Kohlschreiber did beat him the one time they played and has been in red hot form. Anyways I’ll go with Thiem in three but a bit reluctantly. I think this one could go either way and should be a really good match.
Just tuned into the match. I too think Thiem may well win this title. He has gained hugely in confidence since their encounter last year and I think Kohlbi is in danger of wanting the win too much if you know what I mean.
One set all. Thiem needs to beef up his second serve.
Well deserved win for Kohlbi. Gutsy perforance from Thiem but some dodgy shot selection did for him in the end.
Kohlschreiber beat Thiem.
congratulations to me
Good pick. I would have picked same. Fed will have no problem with Thiem should they meet in Madrid.
I will check out the replay of this final on the tennis channel. I am happy for Kohls. Maybe now some of the hype around Thiem for RG will die down a bit.
I think it’s nice to see kohls get this title. Good for him!
i’m very pleased to see kohli win.
i have quite a soft spot for him and have often wished that he was stronger mentally and could pull out the wins he’s capable of. he’s a great shot-maker.
both vr and myself said we thought thiem had a good chance of taking down fed at madrid given that fed is rusty.
might have to re-think that one..
Kohlschrieber had a mental problema especially vs Big Four.
He’s not beating fed.
Ricky on FIRE !! Missed ur previews last night but all good.. Amazing reads in Munich bro…. Can u back it up in Madrid though 😉
not so much in Estoril and Istanbul tho (that being said, both of my picks in those finals SHOULD have won)