For Tim it was their fourth win in their fourth duel with the Australian. However, there was a lot of work needed against the well-behaved returning player. Surprisingly, the lower Austrian meets American John Eisner on Friday (1pm). The service specialist prevailed over the number six Russian classifier Andrej Rublew 7: 6 (7/4) 3: 6 7: 6 (7/4).

For Tim, this is his fourth quarter-final in his sixth appearance in the Spanish capital. In 2017 and 2018 he reached the final (defeats to Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev / Gere), and in 2019 he lost to Novak Djokovic (SRB) in the semi-finals.

“I felt so good”

At TIM, after his apparent inaugural victory over American Marcus Girone (ATP-91), there was another noticeable increase after a long break from competition. Since March 16, the Austrian has not played any other matches due to physical disability. Tim also had to regain his mental freshness after tough games and sometimes weeks of quarantine in Australia at the start of the year.

That is why he made his debut on the clay courts in Madrid in 2021 and was a great character, as Tim himself said: “I felt very good. It was an important match against a big opponent. Lots of long rallies, just what I needed on the sand. So far, Al-Fawzan is a positive surprise for me, and I am happy to have the next opportunity on Friday. “

Serious Work Against the “Rubber Wall”

Tim made a wrong start to the match and was a 3: 1 late at first. When the score was 0: 1, he couldn’t use 40: 0 for a fast break. Then he managed to make it 3: 3. So, the first set went into the tiebreaker, with Tim having to save a set ball at 6/7, but after three straight points, one hour later, he got the first set.

De Minaur remained tenacious, running several well-placed Thiems balls with great sprinting skills and often uncomfortably returning them for the Austrian. But as the match went on, the one-seeded Austrian got better and increased pressure and speed. In the second set, Tim managed to take a break to make it 4: 3, then stop serving and use the first match point.

Weeping at a high level

However, in an interview with the winner, he saw additional potential for improvement. He criticized Tim for not playing matches and for continuing to play during the match. “I also played really hard sometimes,” said Tim. “It should get better. But that’s complaining at a high level. Basically, I’m on the right track.”

ATP 1000 Championship in Madrid

(Spain 3226325 euros sand)