Tennis: Tim fails after swapping strikes in Rome

Tim celebrated his first victory in Roma since 2017 in the second round with 3: 6 7: 6 (7/5) 6: 0 against Hungary’s Marton Voxovi, but defeat to Sonego now in a row failed to make it appear in Italy. Capital in recent years. In both 2018 and 2019, he always failed his inaugural tour due to transfer problems from Madrid’s height.

When he made his debut in 2015, the 21-year-old had reached the Round of 16, including his quarter-final win over Swiss Roger Federer in 2016 and the semifinals in 2017. At that time, Tim celebrated a 6: 4 victory. 6: 3 in the quarter-final against the Spanish king of clay courts Rafael Nadal, but suffered a 1: 6 0: 6 defeat against Novak Djokovic, who in turn defeated Alexander the German. In the final he defeated Zverev.

“The first two groups were a good game,” said the Austrian athlete of the year. “When the crowd left, he took all the wind out of the game. The third set was a rollercoaster ride – a break in the back, a break in the front, and he had a match point that he fought well and then served in the match. Overall, it was a very mixed day. Now relax a little and focus on the next two tournaments. “

Tim doesn’t go first

Against Sonego, whom Tim won against 6: 3 7: 6 (8/6) in the only ATP duel in the 2019 Kitzbühel semi-finals, the ÖTV star hasn’t really started. The Italian achieved a number of magic strikes with which he inspired his countrymen and put Tim on the defensive. At 2: 2 the Austrian top seed faced the first three balls, but was still able to block them. But in the seventh match, the Italian took his next opportunity and broke through to the US Open winner’s service on the second attempt. The world number 33 serves after 51 minutes. After defending the first and only Teams by breaking the ball to lead the group 1-0.

In the second round, the two players gave the spectators an exciting exchange of strikes on the central court, which was 25 percent full for the first time in the tournament. First, Tim had two broken balls to go 2-1, but he couldn’t take advantage of them. Sonego again failed to break through the Austrian service with a score of 4: 4 and 5: 5 with two chances each thus drawing a preliminary decision.

Overtime after the crime in the second sentence

There was jitters with the 6: 5 lead and Sonegus sent. He faced the Italian three times in a ten-minute marathon match with a chance to break and a set point from the Austrian at the same time, but the world number four missed all three chances to tie the group. So the decision had to be made in the tiebreak, with Tim getting a 5/5 better ending and imposing a judgment on the decision.

After that, spectators had to leave the main stadium shortly before 10 pm due to exit restrictions in Italy, while Tim and Songo had to work overtime after a short break. Sonego got off to a better start, taking the Austrian first serve 2-0. Apparently, it was a wake-up call for Thiem, because the Austrian then played four matches in a row and made it 4: 2.

Thiem gives victory from his hand

However, the 27-year-old from Lower Austria allowed the lead out of control again, because instead of serving easily until 6: 4 after 3:05 hours, Tim missed the match point, admitting a break to 5: 5 then had to. To enter the tiebreak again. There the ÖTV star stood with his back to the wall at 3: 5, but pulled his head out of the ring with a hard backhand. But Sonego didn’t give up, got the next 2 points and was the winner after 3:24 hours.

Had he won, Tim would have reserved the chance to advance to third in the world rankings against Nadal this week. Nadal struggled badly in the late afternoon before defeating Canadian Denis Shapovalov after defending two match points in the tiebreak of the third set. He will now meet Zverev in a new edition of the Madrid quarter-finals. Djokovic will also play against Stefanos Tsetsipas (Greece) and Federico Delbonis (Argentina) against Riley Obelka (USA).

ATP 1000 Championship in Rome

(Italy 2563,710 euros sand)