Tennis: Thiems Beats Anderson Qualifies For The Madrid Open Final

By Admin Giant-killer Dominic Thiem is through to the final of the Madrid Open after defeating Kevin Anderson. A day after ending Rafael Nadal’s incredible record run on clay, Thiem returned to dispatch big-hitting Anderson 6-4, 6-2 to book his place in Sunday’s final. Anderson is not a natural clay court performer, and didn’t really have an answer for a skilled exponent on the surface like Thiem. The Austrian broke Anderson’s serve in the very first game of the match, and never trailed in the match again. While Anderson did well to stay on serve for the remainder of the first set, he wasn’t able to overcome his early deficit, despite earning three break points in the 10th game as his opponent tried to wrap up the set. Thiem saved all three break points before clinching the set on his first set point. He then broke Anderson’s serve again in the first game of the second set, and would race to a 4-1 lead following another break in the fifth game. From there, he held on to close out the match with ease and set up a final with either second seed Alexander Zverev or unseeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov. Credit: Foxsports