Former Champion Thiem Enjoys Breezy Beginning

Dominic Thiem improved to 6-0 at the Argentina Open on Wednesday, beating home favourite Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 6-3 in his attempt to repeat his 2016 title at the ATP World Tour 250 event.

The Austrian erased the lone break point and, although he finished the second-round contest in a quick 90 minutes, Thiem will look to improve upon his break-point conversion rate – he was three for 10 against Zeballos, a 2010 quarter-finalist, on Estadio Guillermo Vilas.

Six of Thiem’s eight ATP World Tour titles have come on clay, and the surface is by far his best, according to his FedEx ATP Win/Loss Record. Thiem is 84-30 on clay, a winning percentage of 74. On grass, he’s 13-11 (54%), and on hard court, he’s 81-69 (54%).

Fifth seed Argentine Diego Schwartzman advanced to the quarter-finals at his home tournament for the first time, breaking Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci five times to advance 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The last Argentine to win the Buenos Aires title was David Nalbandian in 2008.

Spaniards have dominated play in the Argentine capital, winning seven consecutive titles from 2009-2015. But Wednesday was not their day. Eighth seed Fernando Verdasco fell to Argentine Guido Pella 6-2, 6-4. Pella will face Thiem in the quarter-finals. Third seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas, also of Spain, dropped his second-rounder against Slovakia’s Aljaz Bedene 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 in two hours and 10 minutes. Bedene will next meet Schwartzman.

DID YOU KNOW?
Schwartzman has the third-highest Infosys Return Rating at 167.4. Learn more in the ATP Stats LEADERBOARDS, powered by Infosys NIA Data.