Thiem, Kohlschreiber Advance To BMW Open by FWU AG Final

Dominic Thiem will go for his third ATP World Tour title of the season on Sunday against Philipp Kohlschreiber, who will be trying to win his third home title at the BMW Open by FWU AG in Munich.

Thiem overcame #NextGen star Alexander Zverev on Saturday 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach Sunday’s final, which will be the seventh of his career. The Austrian erased eight of 11 break points faced and broke the 19-year-old German six times to prevail.

“It’s unbelievable how he plays at 19 years old,” Thiem said. “I lost the first set and then I changed a little bit… more slice, more drop shots, and I think this was one of the key points to win it.”

The 22 year old, who won titles earlier this year in Acapulco and Buenos Aires, now stands alone atop the ATP World Tour match wins chart this season (29-7). He had been tied with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

Thiem, who is 13-2 on clay this season, lost to Kohlschreiber 6-0, 7-6(6) during their previous meeting last year on clay at the Generali Open. Kohlschreiber dismissed No. 5 seed Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-4 in one hour and four minutes on Saturday. “I was happy to make the big points today,” he said. “Very successful week, very solid performance so far.”

The German erased all three break points faced and won almost 90 per cent of his first-serve points to move into his fifth Munich final. “He’s had a huge season so far. He’s a very hot player, very tough to play against him,” Kohlschreiber said of Thiem. “I also feel very well… I hope we’re going to see a great final tomorrow.”