STAR OUT AS KYRGIOS SAPS THIEM SPIRIT
DOMINIC Thiem may have ended Nick Kyrgios’s Australian Open but that victory has seemingly come at the cost of his own.
The Austrian third seed — a beaten finalist at Melbourne Park last year — was crushed in straight sets on Sunday, visibly feeling the effects of his monstrous 3½-hour, five-set win over Kyrgios two days ago.
Taking advantage of Thiem’s heavy legs was Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, once known as Baby Federer, who showed a killer instinct to annihilate one of the tournament favourites 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 and reach his fourth Australian Open quarter-finals.
For the second time this weekend, Thiem found himself in a hole early against an explosive opponent.
However, unlike against Australian Nick Kyrgios, this time Thiem was unable to dig his way out of the hole.
“He might have actually struggled with something … But I want to give myself credit for staying focused and composed throughout the three sets,” Dimitrov said.
“He’s an unbelievable player and a great friend off the court. I’m very happy to be at the quarter-finals.”
Thiem had early breaks in the first and second sets, but was unable to cement his dominance.
Dimitrov quickly broke back to keep the sets on serve, then went on to cement a two-setsto-love lead.
The third set raced along at rapid pace, with Thiem broken three times as Dimitrov iced the victory in 121 minutes, the last six games taking just 21 minutes.
Dimitrov will face Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev for a spot in the semi-finals.
“Every match if you’re here, is for a reason. Whether it’s a fairytale or not, it’s a match,” Dimitrov said.
“You’ve got to be ready. He’s a dangerous player… playing with a lot of confidence. It’s going to be a battle regardless.”