TENNIS NEWS – DJOKOVIC GETS OFF TO WINNING START AT BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS WITH THREE-SET VICTORY OVER THIEM

Written by: Staff on 13th November 2016

TENNIS NEWS - DJOKOVIC GETS OFF TO WINNING START AT BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS WITH THREE-SET VICTORY OVER THIEM |

By Ricky Dimon

Novak Djokovic survived his opening match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday afternoon, but not before he dropped a tough first set against Dominic Thiem. Djokovic ended up prevailing 6-7(10), 6-0, 6-2 in Group B’s first round-robin contest after two hours and two minutes.

Both men saved a single break point en route to what developed into a wild opening-set tiebreaker. Thiem tossed in three double-faults, the first of which came with a 2-0 lead in hand and the next two with set points on his racket at 6-3 and 6-4. The Austrian, who was making his debut at the O2 Arena, also blew set points at 6-5, 7-6, and 8-7, and 10-9. Djokovic earned his lone chance at 9-8, but Thiem fought it off on his own serve. A forehand error by the No. 2 seed put him in another hole at 10-11 and this time Thiem capitalized on his set-point opportunity it with a big forehand winner.

It was all downhill for Thiem, however, after that. Following a one-hour and nine-minute opener, the second set lasted only 23 minutes. Thiem at least managed to win two games in the decider, but he committed 14 unforced errors in the third set compared to Djokovic’s four.

“Even though I lost the first set, I thought I didn’t do too many things wrong,” Djokovic reflected. “It was just the very high quality of his game that prevailed in the first set. Yeah, (it was) a thrilling tiebreaker…. I had only one set point. He just played a good point. I was in the rally, but he just was going for his shots. In the end he managed to win that very long first set.

“I knew after that, the first opening couple games of the second set would be crucial for me to start with a break up, which I did. I felt more comfortable. I started swinging more freely in the second set; obviously made him play an extra shot. He started making more errors, which I used. I was on top of his second serves–putting a lot of pressure (on him). I thought I played very well in the second set especially, but the third, as well.”

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Austria’s Dominic Thiem during their singles group match of the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 13 November 2016. EPA/ANDY RAIN

Austria’s Dominic Thiem returns the ball to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during their singles group match of the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 13 November 2016. EPA/ANDY RAIN

“It was a very good and very intense first set,” Thiem commented. “After that, I lost a little bit of energy–which is required against a guy like Novak to play close and good sets…. (At) the beginning of the third set, I was trying again to get [into the] match. He was playing well. I couldn’t quite keep the level up from the first set. That’s why I lost in three.

“The crowd was very nice. It was a really good atmosphere. I mean, 17,000 (people); it’s, I think, by far the biggest crowd I ever played (in front of). I think they are also excited to see some new faces at this tournament. That’s why they cheered a lot for me, I guess.

“I want to play two more good matches, then I will see what the outcome is. But first of all, it’s a very good experience for me to play three matches against top-10 players. Compared to the last few tournaments, it was a very good match for me today.”

Djokovic is now 4-0 lifetime against Thiem. This marks the first time he has ever surrendered a set to the 23-year-old.