Thiem Moves Past Familiar Foe Cuevas

Dominic Thiem continued his outstanding clay-court season on Wednesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, defeating Pablo Cuevas for the second time in less than a week, 7-6(4), 6-4, en route to the round of 16.

The Austrian also scored a straight-sets win over Cuevas in the semi-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open. Thiem takes the lead in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry over Cuevas 2-1, and improves to 15-3 on clay in 2017. He took the title this February in Rio de Janeiro (d. Carreno Busta) and finished runner-up in Barcelona and Madrid (both l. to Nadal).

“I’m feeling a little bit [tired], but I have very good confidence right now. The match was good and it was a very tough opponent. I’m really happy that I won it again,” said Thiem. “The serve was more important in Madrid because of the altitude. I didn’t face a break point, and it was also way more difficult to break him. There were more long rallies today and the game was decided more from the baseline.”

Cuevas served for the opening set at 5-4, but Thiem fought back to ultimately prevail in the tie-break. The eighth seed secured the lone break of the second set at 3-3 before advancing in one hour and 43 minutes.

Standing between Thiem and a place in the quarter-finals is Sam Querrey, who defeated qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-3. Thiem is even with Querrey in their FedEx ATP Head2Head Series 1-1, with both matches coming in Acapulco. The American won their most recent meeting this March. 

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