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.”
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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.
