World No. 3 Roger Federer will face World No. 8 Dominic Thiem in what is a must-win match for the two players in the robin-round of ATP Finals 2018.
The Roger Federer v Dominic Thiem 2018 ATP Finals robin-round match will be played on Tuesday, November 13, at 8:00 pm local time (7:00 pm GMT). Watch the Roger Federer v Dominic Thiem live streaming here.
Federer v Thiem Head to Head
The two players have met only thrice in their careers so far. All three of those encounters came in 2016 all three of them were on different surfaces. Thiem leads Federer 2-1 in the head to head tally, with their last match being the semifinal of ATP Stuttgart. In three gruelling sets, the Austrian took the victory with 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4
Federer’s sole win over Thiem came in the semifinal of ATP Brisbane 2016 in straight sets.
Shaky Start for Both Players
Federer started his campaign against the Japanese No. 1 Kei Nishikori. Right before the match, the Swiss jokingly said that he didn’t fancy his chances in London, seeing that he has been losing every game in practice. However, much to the dismay of fans, this turned out to be true in his uneventful performance against Nishikori on Sunday evening.
It was clearly a frustrating evening for the Swiss. In what turned out to be one of his sloppiest matches in 2018, Federer missed easy shots and generally appeared to be all out of rhythm. He even lost his calm at times and received a code violation for the same.
For the Japanese, this meant a boost in confidence. Needless to mention, Nishikori didn’t waste any opportunity in seeing himself through to the victory. He outclassed the struggling Swiss and in a little under 90 minutes, he won the match 7-6(4), 6-3 courtesy of 34 unforced errors by Federer and four double faults.
As for Thiem, his fixture against Anderson was far more even. Both the players were neck-to-neck for most of the match, except for a few instances where the South African proved his mettle. The Austrian lost the match in straight sets – 3-6, 6-7(12).
In the first set, Thiem was broken only once. In the second set, both the players managed to hold on their service till the tiebreak. At 6-6, Anderson began his impeccable service game and got himself a match point at 6-5. However, the Austrian saved that match point, along with two others eventually, to stay in the match.
At the same time, Thiem also squandered two set points – an otherwise feat that could have taken the match to the third set. He lost the set 6-7(12).
Federer’s Remarkable Endurance
At the age of 37, Federer has done an exceptional job of staying in the top three. With a win-loss of 46-9, he has won a total of four titles this year – Australian Open, ATP Rotterdam, ATP Stuttgart, and ATP Basel. Along with these, he was also the runner-up in Halle, Indian Wells, and Cincinnati Masters.
His service game has been simply terrific, maintaining a first service win rate of 80% on average in 2018. Another thing that helped him get to this stage was his decision to sit out the clay season.
However, despite his great accomplishments, he has also succumbed to shocking defeats on many occasions. He has lost to the 21-year-old Borna Coric twice this year, along with a stunning defeat to John Millman in the fourth round of US Open.
Thiem’s Overall Consistency
Thiem came to Paris with a win-loss record of 53-19 – one of the highest on the ATP Tour this season. He has relentlessly participated in several events and his hard work has paid off. He qualified for the ATP Finals on the back of three singles titles – ATP St. Petersburg, ATP Lyon, and ATP Buenos Aires. He was also the Madrid Masters runner-up.
The young Austrian also reached his first Grand Slam final this season – he reached the final of French Open where he lost to Rafael Nadal. However, just like Federer, Thiem too has had his awkward struggles over the course of the season.
Federer v Thiem – Who will win?
This tie is going to be an interesting one for many reasons. Firstly, this is a must-win match for both the players. Secondly, Thiem has got a great deal of energy on his side while Federer has a near-flawless service game and a considerable amount of experience over the youngster.
However, if the Swiss continues to play in the same fashion as he did against Nishikori, then we can certainly expect Thiem to take advantage of that and sail to an easy win. This game can pretty much go either way although, the odds do favor the Swiss.
The Thiem v Federer match will begin at 8 pm local time (7 pm GMT) on Tuesday, November 13.
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