Dominic Thiem wins Rio Open with near perfect tournament

Dominic Thiem claims his eighth ATP singles title with a win at the 2017 Rio Open. He defeats Pablo Carreno Busta for the title.

Dominic Thiem recovers from his early season blunders by winning a title in Rio de Janeiro.

The world No. 8 was the second seed at the tournament in Rio this week. He quickly became a favorite to win when top seeded Kei Nishikori was upset in his opening round match by Brazilian tennis player Thomaz Bellucci.

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Thiem started his year out of sync.

He saw early exits at both Brisbane and then again in Sydney. While he did reach a fourth round match at the 2017 Australian Open, he would lose in four sets to the lower seeded David Goffin. Next, the world No. 8 went into play at the Sofia Open where he was upset in his first match.

The 2017 Rio Open became a pivotal point in Thiem’s season.

The 7-5, 6-4 victory over Carreno Busta capped the week that Thiem was looking for throughout all of January and February.

The Austrian tennis player’s game came together in Rio and he did not drop a single set during the tournament. Beyond perhaps his opening round match, Thiem’s biggest test came against Carreno Busta in the finals meeting. The Spanish tennis player was part of the doubles team to claim glory this week at the Rio Open.

Dominic Thiem heads to the Mexico Open next. He is slated to face French tennis player Gilles Simon in his first match. The win at Rio gives Thiem some much needed momentum going into the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. He is the defending champion at the tournament but will be a fourth seed this week with some of the best players in action.

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