Former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem saved five match points to outlast fifth seed Laslo Djere of Serbia 6-7 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (8) in 3 1/2 hours on Friday to reach the final of the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel, Austria.
It is the Austrian’s first trip to a tour-level final since the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals after a wrist injury and multiple other ailments sidetracked his career.
Thiem saved all 12 break points he faced, including three match points in the 12th game of the third set. He also trailed 6-5 and 7-6 in the third-set tiebreaker before pushing ahead and winning on his second match point.
The other semifinal match was nearly as thrilling, as Sebastian Baez needed three sets to take down top-seeded fellow Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4, in two hours and 40 minutes. Baez faced a 7-3 deficit in the aces column but saved five of nine break points while breaking his opponent’s serve three times in five opportunities.
Mubadala Citi DC Open
No. 12 seed Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands earned two wins on Friday to advance to the semifinals in Washington.
First, Griekspoor completed a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win over Frenchman Gael Monfils in the round of 16 that was suspended Thursday night due to rain. Then Griekspoor won 33 of his 37 first-service points (89.2 percent) and never faced break point in beating No. 16 seed J.J. Wolf 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
No. 5 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria is also through to the semifinals via walkover after French 13th seed Ugo Humbert withdrew due to a left leg injury.
Two quarterfinal matches scheduled for Friday night pitted top seed Taylor Fritz against Australian Jordan Thompson and second-seeded local favorite Frances Tiafoe against No. 9 seed Daniel Evans of Great Britain.
–Field Level Media