Thiem saves match point in victory over Rublev

MONTE CARLO: Austrian fifth seed Dominic Thiem saved match point in a gripping Monte Carlo Masters second-round win over Russian youngster Andrey Rublev, while Grigor Dimitrov and Alexander Zverev both came back from a set down to reach round three.

A two-time French Open semi-finalist, Thiem recovered from a set down to book a last-16 clash against either Novak Djokovic or Borna Coric with a 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 victory.

Thiem is playing in his first tournament since suffering an ankle injury at Indian Wells last month.

Rublev spurned a chance to seal the match when he fired a forehand narrowly wide on his own serve late in the deciding set.

“I had to fight from the first to the last point, which of course I did well. But I was also lucky at the end when he had a match point and missed a forehand by 10 centimetres or so,” said 24-year-old Thiem.

“I was 10 centimetres from being out of the tournament.”

The 24-year-old Thiem could also have to face defending champion Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals if he can get past Djokovic or the in-form Coric today.

“It’s a horrible draw for sure, from the first round on,” conceded Thiem.

“But I’m happy that I played two hours and forty (minutes) ... But I’m looking forward to watching Djokovic and Coric in front of the TV and then playing the winner on Thursday.”

Fourth seed Dimitrov came from a set down to see off French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Herbert started quickly, breaking in game three as Dimitrov struggled.

The world No. 5 has often found life difficult on clay, having never reached the second week of the French Open. — AFP