Thiem Ends Home Hopeful's Run In Chengdu

Dominic Thiem ended a memorable run by one of China’s top-ranked players at the Chengdu Open on Thursday. The top seed dismissed Di Wu 6-4, 6-4 in 67 minutes to move into the quarter-finals.

Wu was going for more personal history at his home tournament. The Chinese No. 2 celebrated his first ATP World Tour or Grand Slam main draw match win during his 14^th try on Tuesday (d. Kravchuk). Against Thiem, Wu was trying to earn his first Top 10 victory.

But the Austrian won almost 80 per cent of his first-serve points and broke Wu four times to reach his 13^th ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season. Wu fell to 0-10 against Top 10 foes.

“He was playing very well. My coach knew him so he gave me some very good tips,” Thiem said. “He was serving better than expected… He played a really good match.”

Thiem, who was a finalist in Metz last week (l. to Pouille), is trying to make his seventh final of the season. He’s also looking to bolster his chances of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the first time. The 23 year old is currently in seventh place in the Emirates ATP Race To London. The top eight qualify for the year-end championships, to be held 13-20 Nov. at The O2 in London.

If Thiem wins the Chengdu title, he would add 70 points to his haul. Right now, sixth-placed Gael Monfils leads him by 150 points.

In the quarter-finals, Thiem will face fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas for the first time. The Spaniard beat 33-year-old Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4.

“He’s a great player, and I had to run a lot. The match was so close,” Ramos-Vinolas said. “Very happy [with the win]. It’s not easy to play Lu in Asia.”

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