The Austrian won with confidence in the first round against fellow countryman Sebastian Ofner and followed it up with a commanding performance against Ben Shelton.
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At the Estoril Open on Thursday, Dominic Thiem put on his best performance of the year, easily defeating American Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-2 to advance to his first quarterfinal of the year. The Austrian won with confidence in the first round against fellow countryman Sebastian Ofner and followed it up with a commanding performance against Shelton. He defeated the American by smashing the ball off both wings, recording his first consecutive tour-level victories since reaching the Antwerp semifinals in October.
“The higher the ball bounces the better for me. Today was great with the warm weather,” Thiem said in his on-court interview following his 63-minute win. “Not windy. The courts are pretty fast and dry and take the spin very well. It suites my game pretty good and I am excited to play the quarter-finals tomorrow. I am playing better and better. Just the results in the first part of the season were not there. This part of the season I love it. The European clay-court season.”
The victory on Thursday improved Thiem’s record to 3-8 for the year, which he will hope will serve as the starting point for better performance. The Austrian has historically excelled on clay, reaching the Roland Garros final in 2018 and 2019. On the surface, he has triumphed in 10 of his 17 tour-level victories. Shelton made his tour-level debut on clay this week. The 20-year-old has had a standout start to the season, highlighted by his run to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. He is currently ranked No. 39 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.
“He was coming up so far last year and this year with great results,” Thiem said when asked about Shelton. “It was only his second match on a clay court. I had a lot of respect going into the match, the way he serves and his athletic abilities. The balls are coming really fast, so I was trying to use my clay-court experience today and it was very good.”
When he faces either Quentin Halys or fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the round of eight, the former World No. 3 will look to extend his winning streak. If he makes it to the semifinals in Estoril, Thiem will move up eight spots to No. 103 in the ATP Live Rankings and re-enter the Top 100.
The 2023 Monte Carlo Masters will miss three of the biggest names in world tennis today as Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime all pulled out within an hour on Tuesday. Nadal’s decision did not come as a surprise as the veteran had only just returned to training after suffering an injury earlier this year, However, fans were definitely not ready for Alcaraz and Auger-Aliassime’s withdrawals only a few minutes afterwards.
The Spanish teenager made his decision public via social media, where he said that he was suffering from post-traumatic arthritis and has muscular discomfort in the spine. “After two months of competing, I’m happy to be back home but sad that I finished my semifinal match in Miami with soreness,” he wrote. “After visiting my doctor @drlopezmartinez in Murcia today and being evaluated, I will not be able to go to Monte Carlo to start the tour on the ground,” the Spaniard wrote.
