An amazing first half of 2016 has Dominic Thiem headed to the year-end championship for the first time in his career. Thiem secured a place in the upcoming World Tour Finals when Tomas Berdych lost to Andy Murray 7-6(9), 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Masters on Friday night.
The 23-year-old dropped his Paris opener at the hands of Jack Sock, after which he was forced to play the waiting game to find out his London fate. Berdych, David Goffin, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Roberto Bautista Agut all had an opportunity to overtake Thiem when this week began. With Goffin and Bautista Agut having already lost prior to Friday only Berdych and Tsonga stood in Thiem’s way. In addition to Berdych’s setback against Murray, Tsonga–who had to capture the Paris title in order to qualify for the World Tour Finals–succumbed to Milos Raonic 6-2, 7-6(4).
“I’m so happy to have made it to London, also thanks to Andy and Milos who helped me out,” Thiem said. “It’s been a dream since my childhood to qualify for the ATP Finals. In the past two years it became a goal and to achieve it at such a young age it is amazing, 20 years after the only other Austrian player (Thomas Muster). It’s going to be a great experience to compete against the best players in the world. I look forward to spending a week with them in London.”
Thiem will have to get his game back in shape in a hurry if he wants it to be a positive week on the court. The eighth-ranked Austrian is a mere 9-10 in his last 19 matches dating back to the second round Wimbledon.
He was, though, on fire earlier in the year. Thiem won titles in Buenos Aires, Acapulco, Nice, and Stuttgart while finishing runner-up in Munich. He also advanced to semis at the Rio Open and French Open.
Theim rounds out a London field that also features Murray, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, Gael Monfils, and Marin Cilic.
“We look forward to welcoming the best eight qualified singles players and doubles teams of the year back to the O2 for another spectacular season-ending tournament,” ATP CEO Chris Kermode commented. “These players have all had outstanding seasons and fully deserve their place at our season finale. And with the year-end No.1 ranking still on the line in both singles and doubles, the stakes are as high as ever ahead of this year’s event.”
Berdych going if Raonic WDs
Lol when we think berdych is finally not going to make it to WTF, Raonic will probably withdraw. The way he played in Paris though, I actually wouldn’t mind seeing him play. He actually could do some damage as long he doesn’t blow chances aka lose a frickin 6-1 lead in a breaker against Murray lol. Raonic has to withdraw of course. We will see. Lots of times, he goes even if slightly injured but if this injury is serious then he will most likely withdraw. He said it was a grade one tear in his quad muscle or something so yeah I dunno if that’s serious or not but it was obviously serious enough for him to have to withdraw against Murray. I dunno I don’t really care whether Raonic or berdych plays. A healthy milos would probably have a better chance of making some noise but because his health and form have been very shaky, Berdych would probably have a better shot at doing some damage at the O2.