WATCH: Dominant Dominic Thiem crushes Kyle Edmund in first round of the Madrid Open
Dominic Thiem defeated British star Kyle Edmund to advance in the Madrid Open —an exciting fixture between the pair, with Thiem claiming a wondrous win over the 28-year-old.
The world No. 93 proved his ability on the clay surface with a confident win over his British opponent. The pair have now met twice over their careers, with Theim coming out on top on both occasions.
Theim went into the match with imperious form, having won five of his last eight fixtures on the clay court. However, his last match saw him get defeated by the hands of Taylor Fitz in the quarter-finals in Munich, with a score of 6-3, 6-4.
Unlike Theim, Edmund came into this match with poor results on the surface, having only won two out of his last five appearances on the clay court. His last match saw him receive an early exit in Munich to Marc-Andrea Huesler after a challenging 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-3 performance.
The pair squared off in the Madrid Open round of 128. The stars collided for an hour and 22 minutes before Austrian secured his 4-6, 1-6 win.
Former world No. 14 Edmund had two crucial moments on break points but was not clinical to take advantage over a thrashing Thiem.
Thiem claimed a confident victory after Edmund was unable to hit his mark, gifting the win to his opponent.
“An impressive display from the former runner-up in Madrid.” said the commentator to end the exciting battle.
“[Edmund] is a very tough and dangerous opponent,” said a humble Thiem.
“I love this court, I have some unbelievable memories here, and that helped me release a bit and do better and better.”
“It’s time to work again on that reputation. Once I was a tough guy to beat on clay. It’s not the case now but I’m feeling that I’m getting better and back to shape.”
Thiem is set to take on fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas tomorrow in the coming round. Tsitsipas is certainly a favourite to win, having secured six wins in his last eight fixtures on the clay court. His last match saw him take a narrow, 6-3, 6-4, loss to world number two Carlos Alcaraz in the final at Barcelona.
However, the pair have faced each other eight times in their careers, with Thiem leading the wins at five matches. Although both players have beaten each other once on clay, which sets up an exciting fixture as the players will look to break the deadlock.
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