Dominic Thiem goes undefeated, wins first leg of Adria Tour over Krajinovic
Dominic Thiem emerged as the Adria Tour’s first champion in Belgrade. Here’s a recap of the event and a look ahead to the next stops on tour.
Dominic Thiem has prevailed as the winner of the Adria Tour‘s first leg in Belgrade after going undefeated through the tournament’s three days. Thiem faced fellow finalist and Serbian Filip Krajinovic and struggled through the first two sets before ultimately taking the win.
Thiem took it 4-3(2), 2-4, 4-2, getting there in style; he reached match point on a showmanship tweener move that absolutely delighted the crowd. Thiem went 2-0 on Day 1, beating Dzumhur (by retirement) and Dusan Lajovic. He followed up with a win over Grigor Dimitrov, giving the World #3 the Group Stage win and a spot in the finals.
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Krajinovic took the long road to the finals. Having to fight through both World #1 and tournament creator Novak Djokovic, as well as #7 Alexander Zverev, the Serbian fought hard, losing to Zverev in an incredibly close 3 sets before moving on to beat fellow countryman Djokovic to round out Day 1.
Krajinovic took care of Troicki on Day 2, and with Djokovic ending Zverev’s unbeaten streak, Krajinovic finished the day tied at the top of the group stage at 2-1. The World #32 moved onto the final match to face Thiem due to his percentage of games won (the tiebreaker for the group stage). He won 61% of his games, edging out Djokovic’s 57% and Zverev’s 51%.
"“I’m happy with the level I played this week. I’ve been fully in practice for quite a while – I played seven matches in Austria…you’re not just playing for yourself, you also want to give the fans a good show. So I’m super happy that I won all of my matches,” Thiem said after his finals victory."
Next. Adria Tour: Best moments and surprises from the tournament's inaugural day. dark
The second leg of the Adria Tour begins June 20th in Zadar, Croatia. Reports have just been made official that the Tour’s third leg, in Montenegro, has been scrapped due to coronavirus concerns.