ATP Tennis Results From Barcelona | Thiem Too Good For Medvedev

Dominic Thiem (L) of Austria celebrates after defeating Daniil Medvedev of Russia in their final match of the 67th Barcelona Open Trofeo Conde de Godo tennis tournament in Barcelona, Spain, 28 April 2019. EPA-EFE/ALEJANDRO GARCIA

 

 

Thiem too good for Medvedev in Barcelona title match

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

How good was Dominic Thiem in the final of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Sunday afternoon. Well, just ask opponent Daniil Medvedev.

 

“I tried my best, but Dominic was too good,” said Medvedev, who lost 6-4, 6-0. “At one point today, even just getting a point off him was a great achievement.”

 

That may be a bit of an overstatement, but getting full games was–in fact–an almost impossible proposition for the Russian throughout the final hour of the contest. He won only once of the last 13, watching a 3-0 lead in the opening set evaporate into a straight defeat.

 

It was hardly Medvedev’s own fault. The world No. 14 came out blazing hot as Thiem struggled to find his range, but the fourth seed quickly found the scintillating form that had carried him to a 6-4, 6-4 upset of Rafael Nadal on semifinal Saturday.

 

After one hour and 13 minutes of mostly dominant work, Thiem became the first Austrian since Tomas Muster in 1996 to triumph in Barcelona.

 

“Winning this means a lot to me because it’s such a traditional and special tournament,” Thiem commented. “Only great players have won here. Rafa has won it 11 times and it means a lot that Muster won it twice. It’s a big moment for me.

 

“A title like this always gives you a lot of confidence, so I’ll be in a good mood going into Madrid. But the special thing about tennis is that I’ll start from zero in Madrid/ All the guys there are really strong, so I’ll need to be ready from the first point.”

 

A pair of 250 events in Estoril and Munich are on the schedule this week before Masters 1000 action resumes in Madrid. Thiem’s 2019 haul already featured his first Masters title in Indian Wells now includes 500 points from Barcelona.

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.