World number five Dominic Thiem of Austria will be up against Martin Klizan of Slovakia in their ATP Monte-Carlo Masters encounter on Wednesday. The match will begin after 2:00 pm local time (1:00 pm BST). Get Dominic Thiem v Martin Klizan live streaming options here.
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Dominic Thiem v Martin Klizan Head to Head
Interestingly, there have been five matches played between these two players before this and Klizan has a shock 3-2 lead over the highly-rated Thiem. What makes it more bizarre is two of Klizan’s three wins came on clay, at Kitzbuhel in 2012 and then again in the same tournament last year.
Poor Start Mitigated by Shock Indian Wells Win for Thiem
On the one hand is Thiem’s showing at the Indian Wells Masters where he won six matches in a row, including a withdrawal from Gael Monfils, to win the title. And on the other, is his rest of the season, in which he has won a grand total of a mere three matches that comprises of first round losses at Doha, Rio and Miami.
This bizarre contrast is somewhat mitigated by the fact that Thiem is a clay-court specialist, given his superb season on red dirt in 2018. But even there, one is looking at his 2-2 win-loss record on this surface in 2019, which saw him win two matches at Buenos Aires and then lose two in row including one at Rio.
That said, Thiem was a Buenos Aires winner last year along with having won the title at Lyon and becoming a finalist at the French Open which puts him in the driver’s seat for this encounter against Klizan at Monte-Carlo.
Klizan Happy on Clay Too
World number 50 Klizan will go into the match knowing what he’s up against but take nothing away from his own showing on clay. Last season, Klizan did feature in a few Challenger tournaments but to still have a 34-12 win-loss record on clay has been commendable.
That included his only title win in two years, a victory at Kitzbuhel where he needed to qualify for the tournament by winning a couple of rounds before he won five straight rounds to clinch the tournament. Earlier in 2018, he made the quarter-finals at Barcelona where he went down to Rafael Nadal and another last-eight in Munich, both times by making the main draw through qualifiers.
Can he now take his form on clay that step forward and cause a big upset given Thiem is one of the chief favourites behind Nadal here?
Thiem v Klizan Predictions & Tips
Two wins in two previous clay court encounters for Klizan against Thiem but surely, lightning cannot strike again on clay! The Austrian should have enough class to not just win this one but also make it as far as the semi-final and he will start off as a favourite. However, given the fight that Klizan has often offered against Thiem, it might not be as one-sided as the odds of 1/4 seem.
Tip: Over 18.5 games in the match: 9/10 (888Sport)
You can watch & bet on Dominic Thiem v Martin Klizan on Wednesday, April 17 here. Also get all the other Monte-Carlo Masters tips and predictions here and your other daily dose of tennis tips and predictions here.
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