Fourth seed Roger Federer will play Barcelona Open champion Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinal of the Mutua Madrid Open on Friday, May 10, at 5 pm local time (4 pm BST). You can find the Roger Federer v Dominic Thiem live streaming options, preview and predictions here.
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Roger Federer v Dominic Thiem Head to Head
Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem have played each other five times. The Austrian has picked up three wins and leads the series 3-2, with his most recent win coming in the final of Indian Wells where he captured his maiden Masters 1000 title.
Both of Federer’s two victories were on hard courts, the last of which was at the Nitto ATP Finals Round Robin stage in 2018.
Their sole meeting on clay was won by Thiem at the Italian Open in 2016. That was Federer’s last competitive match on clay until he returned to Madrid this year.
Federer Shows He Has Not Lost A Step On Clay
Roger Federer saved two match-points against Gael Monfils in their third round encounter to pick up his 1200th match-win of his illustrious career and become just the second player to hit that milestone after American great Jimmy Connors.
Federer arrived in Madrid without having played competitively on the dirt since a round of 16 defeat to Dominic Thiem at the Italian Open in 2016. But his long absence did not deter his performances on the Caja Magica, and it was like he had never left as he cruised to a straight sets win over Richard Gasquet in his first match.
His fine form continued as he walloped former top-10 player Gael Monfils 6-0 in the opening set inside 17 minutes. Although Monfils showed remarkable resilience to get back into the match, it was the legendary Swiss who showed nerves of steel at the tail end of the match when he saved two match-points, one of which was a second serve serve-and-volley point.
Federer will need to beat Dominic Thiem to avenge his loss at Indian Wells. Thiem is also the last man to have beaten the fourth seed on the clay. The former World No.1 will need to roll back the years and produce another one of his feats of brilliance in what will be a statement win should he get it.
Dominic Thiem Is The Man To Beat This Week
Alexander Zverev is the defending champion in Madrid, and Rafael Nadal is undoubtedly the greatest clay-court player of all time. But Dominic Thiem happens to be the man to beat at this week’s Madrid Open.
The powerful Austrian has finished runner-up in the Madrid Open in 2017 and 2018 editions losing to Nadal and Zverev respectively. Although Thiem won his first Masters 1000 title on the hard courts of Indian Wells, evidence suggests his first Masters 1000 title on clay is not far off and Madrid would be a perfect place for it to come.
Historically, the 25-year-old rarely plays well in Monte Carlo and his second round defeat to eventual finalist Dusan Lajovic in the Principality would not have risen a few eye-brows.
Thiem went on to capture his first Barcelona Open crown defeating Guido Pella, Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev along the way. He suffered an early wobble against Opelka, but managed to secure a fine win against Italian Fabio Fognini to extend his winning run to seven matches.
Federer v Thiem Predictions & Tips
First things first. Thiem will start as the overwhelming favorite here, and rightly so, given his emergence as one of the best players on clay in the last few years.
Federer’s defeat to the Austrian in Rome three years ago compounded his misery in what turned out to be one of his worst seasons on tour. If the Swiss can avenge that loss, it will send out a big statement to the rest of the field and an enticing semifinal potentially against Djokovic. But I am slightly worried by his lack of matches on the surface especially against top quality opposition. Against Monfils, he came out all guns blazing in the first set and he would need a similar response. However, Thiem will be a different challenge to Monfils and his firepower and athleticism will be too much to handle over three sets.
Tip: Thiem to win in three sets: 29/10 (888Sport)
The Federer v Thiem match can be watched live with Unibet here on May 10, 2019. Also get the latest tennis tips and predictions here.
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