A couple of former Grand Slam champions experienced different fortunes at the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday. Dominic Thiem advanced, while Andy Murray crashed out.
Thiem took advantage of a fellow competitor who has missed a ton of time due to injuries, as Kyle Edmund registers at 498th in the rankings. Edmund’s woes continued with a 6-4, 6-1 loss to Thiem. Th Austrian did not drop serve once, fighting off all four of the break points he faced to prevail after one hour and 22 minutes.
“It was not easy in the beginning,” Thiem assessed. “First match on the center court and I was mainly practicing outside, so it is a different feeling. I have known Kyle since we were juniors. He has been a tough opponent since the young days, so I went in with a lot of respect. I had some crucial moments in the first set when I saved the break points and then I released a little bit and it got better and better.”
Saturday will mark a battle between two players whose career-high ranking is No. 3, as it will be Thiem vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas. The fifth-ranked Greek trails the head-to-head series 5-3, but it is tied up at 1-1 on clay after they split a pair of 2018 meetings; Tsitsipas got the job done in Barcelona before Thiem won at Roland Garros.
“I am looking forward to that one a lot,” Thiem said. “He is an unbelievable player. I like watching his matches; he is very elegant. We’ve had some great matchups.”
Murray vs. Daniil Medvedev would have been another fun second-round matchup, but instead it will be Medvedev vs. Andrea Vavassori. The Italian upset Murray 6-2, 7-6(7) for the biggest win of his career.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.