Thanasi Kokkinakis defeated Dominic Thiem in two sets in the final round of the 2024 Madrid Open qualifiers to secure a spot in the main draw.
This was a very interesting match in the qualifiers because both of these players are good enough not to have to play in the qualifiers. Unfortunately, this is a really strong event, and their ranking was not sufficient to avoid that, so fans got a pretty interesting match, and they showed it by coming in large numbers to watch.
Thiem has been struggling for weeks now and barely avoided losing his previous match. Only a really late push by the Austrian ensured that he even got a chance to play against the Australian in this match.
The opening set didn’t go that well for him, as Kokkinakis demonstrated his superb skillset to take the set 6-1. The Australian has a pretty good game, and the conditions suit him well.
He has a powerful serve and good forehand, which is exactly what players need to thrive in the faster conditions in Madrid. Thiem was just overwhelmed in that opening set.
He didn’t serve well and was all over the place from the baseline, while Kokkinakis hit nine winners with zero unforced errors. The second set was more competitive, and Thiem played quite a bit better.
He was cruising through his serve games, but he still got broken when it mattered. That one bad game was enough for the 2022 Australian Open doubles champion to break, and he also survived his own bad game. That was the difference in the second set.
The first one was very easy for Kokkinakis, who was a much better player. Overall, it was just a solid 6-1, 6-3 win for the Australian, who produced some really solid tennis this week.
He could do really well in this event if he can keep his level high and his serve doesn’t betray him.
