TENNIS • 10SBALLS SHARES RICKY’S BEST ATP MATCHES OF 2017: NO. 10 IS THIEM VS. DIMITROV IN MADRID

Written by: on 5th December 2017
Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament
TENNIS • 10SBALLS SHARES RICKY'S BEST ATP MATCHES OF 2017: NO. 10 IS THIEM VS. DIMITROV IN MADRID

epa05957659 Austria's Dominic Thiem in action against Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov during their round match at Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, 11 May 2017. EPA/JUANJO MARTIN  |

Ricky’s best ATP matches of 2017: No. 10 is Thiem vs. Dimitrov in Madrid

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

Over the next week, Ricky is counting down his top 10 men’s matches of the year, in order from No. 10 all the way down to No. 1. It begins with a clay-court battle at the Madrid Masters between Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov. Thiem saved five match points before surviving in a third-set tiebreaker.

 

Madrid Masters third round: Dominic Thiem d. Grigor Dimitrov 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(9)

 

Five match points. That is how many opportunities Dimitrov had to scrape past Thiem and earn a place in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open. But for Thiem, who lost more than his fair share of extremely close matches throughout the 2017 campaign, it was his turn to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

 

Madrid’s No. 8 seed and eventual finalist trailed by a set and 3-1 in the second, and also by a break in the third set at 4-2. He continued to play from behind in the final-set tiebreaker, but there was no shortage of comebacks engineered by Thiem throughout this entertaining affair. The Austrian thwarted three straight match points starting from 6-3 behind in the tiebreaker and he saved two more at 6-7 and 8-9.

 

“I don’t always play [well] in the important points, but today yes,” Thiem commented. “I saved five match points. I don’t know if I ever saved that many match points in one match, so it’s a really good feeling.”

 

On the other hand, it was bitter pill to swallow for Dimitrov. But the Bulgarian, who finished the year at No. 3 in the world after winning the Nitto ATP Finals, played his part in an entertaining encounter that lasted two hours and 35 minutes. As the scored indicates, it could not have been any more competitive. Even in the department of total points, Thiem finished with only one more than Dimitrov–112 to 111.

 

“I think it was a very good match from both of us,” Thiem concluded. “The tiebreak in the third set was amazing. It was 4-3 for him and I played two very good points. He made two unbelievable rallies. The tiebreak is always a little bit (of) luck, but I think it was a good match for both of us. That’s the bad thing about tennis; only one guy can win.”

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.

 

Topics: , , , , , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.