Semifinals of ATP 1000 Madrid. World’s ATP no. 1 meets the star in the making, Austrian Dominic Thiem. Djokovic didn’t play today because Cilic retired from the match before the game even started due to some health issues. While Novak is still fresh for tomorrows game the same can’t be said about Thiem. What a battle it was today between him and Roger! It definitely required a lot of strength to keep his cool after Federer managed to get the break back in the 3rd set but Thiem just looked better and finished the game in style. Please check our full preview of first semifinal below.
Novak Djokovic
The best in the world today and definitely for a good reason. Novak is considered to be the best returner in the game and his style of play is very hard to handle for anyone. He is serving well, has an insanely good return, strong both backhand, and forehand can play aggressive and passive style of tennis depending on an opponent without any problem. Clay may not be his best ground but Novak should never be underestimated.
Dominic Thiem
Probably the best start of the season Thiem could’ve imagined. 8 wins in a row including ones over Federer and Nadal in a matter of weeks. Thiem struggled in first set today but managed to come back after winning tie break in the 2nd set following up with the break to win the match in the 3rd set. It feels like Federer were not playing at his 100% today and gave Austrian 12 opportunities to break but Thiem only used 2 them and that’s concerning. Dominic must play better to be able to win against Djoko tomorrow.
H2H
Thiem has played against Djokovic 8 times and lost 6 of those games including 2 matches on clay. Both of Dominic’s wins were on clay as well.
Article Image Taken from https://www.livemint.com/Sports/kkrcOdn7oVHWVzOuitUNDP/French-Open-2017-Novak-Djokovic-stunned-by-Thiem-in-quarter.html