Thiem Tames Struff; Shapo Shines In Decider

Dominic Thiem arrived in Russia fresh off his first hard-court quarter-final appearance at a Grand Slam, having reached the last eight at the US Open. And the Austrian maintained that form at the St. Petersburg Open on Thursday, defeating Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(4), 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals.

The top seed has now made it to this stage or further at 12 of 18 tour-level events this year. Thiem owns 45 wins in 2018 (45-14), tying World No. 1 Rafael Nadal (45-4) and No. 5 Alexander Zverev (45-14) for the most victories on the ATP World Tour. It is the third straight year that the Austrian has reached the 45-win plateau. 

The 25-year-old did well to protect his first serve against the German, winning 80 per cent of those points. He saved all three break points he faced in the second set en route to closing out the match after one hour, 35 minutes. Thiem will next face eighth seed Daniil Medvedev, who saved four of five break points to beat Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-4 in one hour, 23 minutes. The home favourite captured his first two titles earlier this year in Sydney and Winston-Salem.

It wasn’t easy, but #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov continued his pursuit of a maiden ATP World Tour title with a 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-0 victory against Italian Matteo Berrettini. Shapovalov now owns 30 wins on the season, as he continues his ascent up the ATP Rankings. This June, the 19-year-old left-hander peaked at World No. 23, becoming the youngest player to crack the Top 25 since 2005.

While the Bahamas resident did not quite back up his fourth-round US Open run from 2017, he showed good form in Flushing Meadows by pushing last year’s finalist, Kevin Anderson, to five sets in the third round. And he has carried that level to Russia, where he will face 2012 titlist Martin Klizan for a spot in the last four. It will be the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

Against Berrettini, Shapovalov had to find some of his best tennis after facing a set point at 5/6 in the first-set tie-break and then dropping the second set. The seventh seed won all 12 of his service points in the decider and captured an impressive 83 per cent of second-serve return points in the third set to finish strong, earning the victory after one hour, 58 minutes.

Fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut defeated home favourite Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-3 in the final match of the Russian’s career, leaving ‘The Colonel’ with 499 tour-level match wins. Youzhny completes a career that spanned nearly two decades with 10 ATP World Tour titles and more than $14 million in prize money.

“I don’t have so much emotions, because now nothing changes for me. Yeah I understand, from one part of my mind, I finished my tennis career and now it’s going to be a new life for me. But if you say right now after the match, nothing changed,” Youzhny said. “From the beginning until the end, I was professional. The level of my game in last match shows that I’m retiring actually at a very good level.”

As you’d expect from one of the ATP World Tour’s toughest competitors, Youzhny did not go down without a fight against the World No. 26. Despite faliing to convert on two set points in the first set, he forced a decider and took a 15/40 advantage on the Spaniard’s serve at 3-3. But the 36-year-old missed backhands in the net on the next four points, and then double faulted on break point in the next game.

We salute YOU, Mikhail Youzhny! ?

Send “The Colonel” a salute to congratulate him on a successful career and retirement ?‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/P6V8Who6Ya

— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) September 20, 2018 

Sixth seed Damir Dzumhur, who lifted his first tour-level trophy in St. Petersburg one year ago, ousted Argentine Guido Pella 6-4, 6-4 in 77 minutes to move closer to retaining his crown. The 26-year-old has won two more titles since his breakthrough in Russia. But if he’s to add a fourth to his trophy case, it will not be easy.

In the quarter-finals, Dzumhur will face former World No 3 Stan Wawrinka, who summoned some of his best tennis on Wednesday to defeat home favourite and fourth seed Karen Khachanov in two tie-breaks. Dzumhur won their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting last season in Dubai. 

Did You Know?
Shapovalov has now reached the quarter-finals or better at four ATP World Tour events this season. He had only made the last eight once at this level entering the 2018 campaign.