Marin Cilic and Dominic Thiem will be going head-to-head for the fifth time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Tel Aviv Open on Wednesday.
Thiem has won all four of their previous encounters, but all four of those came prior to Thiem’s current injury issues. He prevailed three times on hard courts (2016 Brisbane, 2019 Toronto, 2020 U.S. Open) before predictably cruising 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 on the red clay of Roland Garros two years ago.
Of course, the story for Thiem is a much different one now. The 29-year-old Austrian missed 10 months dating back to last summer because of a wrist injury and his slow-going comeback currently has him at No. 173 in the rankings. There have been at least some recent signs of improvement, as he won multiple matches at back-to-back-to-back events in Gstaad, Kitzbuhel, and Winston-Salem. Thiem also finished runner-up at the Rennes Challenger, beat Richard Gasquet last week in Metz, and opened in Tel Aviv with a 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-4 victory over Laslo Djere on Monday.
Cilic is in resurgent form at 33 years old. The Croat has climbed back up to 16th in the world thanks to a 28-16 record this season, including a 17-6 mark in his last 23 matches. During this hot stretch he has lost to current world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz twice and current world No. 2 Casper Ruud once. Cilic hasn’t lost to anyone ranked lower than 61st since February.
With Cilic playing some of his best tennis and Thiem coming off a two-hour and 41-minute battle, Tel Aviv’s second seed should advance without too much trouble.
Pick: Cilic in 2
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Cilic in two