Thiem Handles Anderson To Book Quarterfinal Spot
Dominic Thiem is into the U.S. Open quarterfinals for this first time in his career after ousting 2017 runner-up Kevin Anderson in an impressive 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(2) victory on Sunday inside Louis Armstrong Stadium.
“It was an amazing victory over one of the best players right now,” said Thiem. “Also, first time [in the] quarterfinals outside Paris, but most of all, I’m happy with my performance.”
The ninth-seeded Austrian was guided by his big serve against Anderson, winning every point on his first serve in the opening set, and securing the set’s only break point at 6-5 to take the upper hand.
Thiem began the second set by breaking Anderson at love and continued to dominate with his serve. He never faced a break point at any point in the match, and outplayed the South African in the third set tiebreaker to move through in straight sets.
He moves on to play defending champion and top seed Rafael Nadal who, despite dropping a third set tiebreaker, notched a routine 6-3, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 over Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili to claim his spot in the final eight.
The nine previous meetings between Nadal and Thiem have all been on clay including this year’s French Open final earlier this summer. Nadal has won six of those nine prior matches.
“It was three very nice experiences and six horrible experiences,” Thiem said of his history with Nadal. “But, no, I’m really looking forward to play him on hard court for the first time. On clay, I think it’s one of the biggest challenges in sports to beat this guy or to compete with this guy [on clay]. I hope that it’s a little bit more comfortable on hard court, but I’m not sure.
To compete with him well, I always have to have a great day, and I have to play well. But I did today, so I just keep up my habits.”
