TENNIS | Bautista signs the best match of the year to eliminate Thiem

“Vamooooos !!!”, he yelled angrily Roberto Bautista at the end of his victory in the ATP 250 in Doha against Dominic Thiem, first seed of the tournament. Reasons had the Castellón to celebrate with fury in what is being a difficult season, after the title escaped in the Montpellier final against David Goffin, in addition to the defeats conceded against players from the noble zone of the circuit.

But today was not a day of lamentations. Rober pulled the courage that characterizes him to seal his best victory of the course (the first against a top-10 ranking in 2021) against the Austrian, in a battle of two hours and 26 minutes that was decided in the third set: 6-7, 6-2 and 4-6. It is true that it is not the best start to the course for Nico Massú's pupil, but the Spanish's triumph was more than deserved due to his greater success and mettle in the decisive moments. In addition, he has taken the measure of good Thiem, whom dominates widely in the particular face to face: 4-1.

Reigning tournament champion Andrey Rublev awaits Bautista in the semifinals in a match of strange circumstances if we take into account that the Russian has stood in that round without having added a minute on the track: he was exempt from the first round as seed and did not play the round of 16 and the quarterfinals due to non-appearance of his rivals (Gasquet and Fucsovics injuries). Facing the Russian, Rober also try tie the tie head-to-head (2-2), with the juicy prize of playing a new final …