Dominic Thiem, who is seeded seventh for this year’s tournament, will face the world number 55, Benoit Paire of France, in the first round of the Australian Open.
Watch & bet on Dominic Thiem v Benoit Paire live in the Australian Open with bet365 here* on Tuesday, January 15. The Thiem v Paire match timing will be announced soon.
*Geo-restrictions apply & pre-funded account needed
Thiem v Paire Head to Head:
Interestingly, their only previous meeting came at the 2017 Australian Open in which Thiem needed four sets to get the better of Paire in the round of 32. Thiem had then lost to David Goffin in the fourth round.
Dominic Thiem – Clay Court Specialist?
Austrian Thiem is very much a clay court specialist. The 25-year old Austrian has won 11 senior ATP career titles, of which 8 have come on clay.
His most notable achievement last year was to defeat Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open, ending the Spaniard’s 21-match and 50-set unbeaten run on clay (although Nadal did get his revenge by beating Thiem in the French Open Final).
Despite this preference in terms of surface, Thiem also is proficient on hard surfaces, and has two titles to his name, in Acapulco in 2016, and in St. Petersburg last year. His record in Melbourne is decent, if not spectacular, reaching the fourth round in the past two years.
Benoit Paire – Consistent Journeyman
Paire, on paper at least, is no match for Thiem. The 29-year old Frenchman does have one career title to his name, the 2015 Swedish Open, but that was back in the days when he was reaching a top 20 world ranking.
Since those heady days, his game has become known more for its flashiness and unpredictability, than for the consistency of results.
He has also earned a reputation for ill-discipline off the court, and was thrown off the French team for the Olympic games in Rio for poor behaviour and “flouting the rules”.
Paire’s record coming into the tournament is patchy. In his first tournament of the year he reached the third round in Pune before losing to compatriot Gilles Simon, but was easily beaten by Cameron Norrie of Britain, a player ranked some 37 places below him, in the first round in Auckland.
Dominic Thiem v Benoit Paire – Who will Win?
The pair have only met once before, ironically enough at the Australian Open two years ago. Thiem won 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Since then Thiem has become a top ten player, whilst Paire has slipped down the rankings. A similar outcome can be expected this time round, except that this time the result may not be so close. Thiem to win in three sets.
You can watch & bet on Dominic Thiem v Benoit Paire live in the Australian Open with bet365 here on Tuesday, January 15.
Be the first to comment