Dominic Thiem notched a 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-4 victory against Maximilian Marterer on Monday to reach the second round at the Portuguese ATP 250.
After he made a fast start to the match, Thiem recovered well from a disappointing second-set tie-break display to claim his second tour-level win of the year following a Davis Cup victory for Austria in February.
“It was good. Also, the past two years I played here, I like the conditions,” said Thiem after improving to 3-2 overall at the clay-court event. “I came here early to prepare for the tournament and it paid off. It was a great match, a great first set. Second set, Max started to play way better and it became a very open match, a great battle. I’m really happy that it went my way in the end.”
Thiem converted six of 12 break points he earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to improving his Lexus ATP Head2Head lead against Marterer to 3-0. The 17-time tour-level titlist will next take on a fellow former Top 10 star, Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
Another former Top 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Roberto Bautista Agut, also booked his second-round spot on Monday. The Spaniard downed sixth seed Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 7-5 for his first win against a Top 50 opponent since the first week of the season in Hong Kong.
© Copyrights Sixsports. All Rights Reserved.