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I was at the AUT vs ARG tie. I thought Pella would win his match but with a bit more contest in the second following the bagel start, but Dennis Novak really improved leaps and bounds with good and patient aggressive play.
As to this match, you really saw how big both can hit relative to the first RR match in this tie. Thiem was able to generate a lot of pace from the FH even off balls very low to the ground - with good clearance - he hardly nets his FHs, more often goes long if he does make a mistake. Diego was a bit too error prone in the first and overpowered, but did trouble Thiem a lot on return games in the second set. Problem is he couldn't consolidate his breaks. It could have gone either way really. A nice contest with some thrilling rallies across the whole court. Thiem a bit more powerful when needed and played the cat and mouse pts rather well. The BH was actually quite good for him today, his DTL shots were pretty heavy for Diego to deal with.
There was a very funny moment in the middle of the second when Diego was frustrated with some line calls following losing his last challenge. The service line was in question, but one particular call I could clearly see was incorrect, Thiem hit a T serve on the ad side that was wide but the line judge and the umpire totally missed it and counted it as an ace. The whole stadium was with Diego there. After some discussion with the umpire, Thiem agreed to replay that point, as we've come to expect from him. It was 40-0 anyhow but Diego's frustration was understandable.
As to this match, you really saw how big both can hit relative to the first RR match in this tie. Thiem was able to generate a lot of pace from the FH even off balls very low to the ground - with good clearance - he hardly nets his FHs, more often goes long if he does make a mistake. Diego was a bit too error prone in the first and overpowered, but did trouble Thiem a lot on return games in the second set. Problem is he couldn't consolidate his breaks. It could have gone either way really. A nice contest with some thrilling rallies across the whole court. Thiem a bit more powerful when needed and played the cat and mouse pts rather well. The BH was actually quite good for him today, his DTL shots were pretty heavy for Diego to deal with.
There was a very funny moment in the middle of the second when Diego was frustrated with some line calls following losing his last challenge. The service line was in question, but one particular call I could clearly see was incorrect, Thiem hit a T serve on the ad side that was wide but the line judge and the umpire totally missed it and counted it as an ace. The whole stadium was with Diego there. After some discussion with the umpire, Thiem agreed to replay that point, as we've come to expect from him. It was 40-0 anyhow but Diego's frustration was understandable.
