Thiem Returns With A Cincy Victory

Eighth seed Dominic Thiem booked his first career win at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Wednesday. The 22-year-old Austrian won his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against Aussie qualifier John Millman 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the third round. He will next face ninth seed Gael Monfils, who broke Marcos Baghdatis six times to win 7-5, 6-0 in 71 minutes.

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Thiem, No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, won 80 per cent of his first-serve points and broke the 27-year-old Millman six times. The win improves his chances of reaching the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at The 02 in London for the first time. He is currently in sixth place in the Emirates ATP Race To London.

The win also gives Thiem his first victory since 29 June when he beat German Florian Mayer in the first round at Wimbledon. Thiem lost his first-round match at the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel and retired after five games at the Rogers Cup because of a hip injury.

The Austrian leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Monfils 1-0, a three-set semi-final victory last year on clay at Konzum Croatia Open Umag. Monfils also has his eye on qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the first time. The Frenchman is in eighth place, just in front of Tomas Berdych.

Berdych, the No. 6 seed, set up a third-round meeting with Marin Cilic by downing Marcel Granollers 6-3, 7-6(4). It was Granollers’ second match of the day after the Spaniard beat Jiri Vesely in a rain-delayed first-round match. Cilic breezed past wild card Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-1 in under one hour. He trails the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Berdych 4-6.