By Chris Oddo | Thursday February 16, 2017
Dominic Thiem rounded out the quarterfinal lineup at the ABN Amro by notching a straight-sets win over Gilles Simon on Thursday.
Photo Source: Henk Koster/ABN Amro
Dominic Thiem is looking to get his game back on track in Rotterdam this week as the 23-year-old has yet to reach a semifinal this season—something he did ten times last season.
So far, so good.
Thiem played brilliantly in taking down France’s Gilles Simon, 6-4, 7-6(4), on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals at the ABN Amro.
The No.2 seed knocked off Alexander Zverev on Wednesday and will face France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the last eight.
Simon made it very tough on Thiem by losing only 15 service points in the 96-minute affair, but Thiem was better on the big points. He broke once in the first set and once in the second and finished the match by taking a second-set tiebreaker to claim his fourth win in six career matches with Simon.
It was a good day for seeds in Rotterdam as each of the top five seeds moved through to the quarterfinals. Earlier in the day top-seeded Marin Cilic got past Borna Coric in three sets, while No.3-seeded David Goffin defeated Robin Haase in three sets and No.4-seeded Tomas Berdych took out Richard Gasquet in straight sets.
In the first match of the evening session Grigor Dimitrov stayed hot by easing past Denis Istomin, 7-6(7), 6-1, to improve to 16-1 on the season. Dimitrov had to save a set point in the first-set tiebreaker, but cruised in the second against Uzbekistan’s top player, dropping only three points on serve and breaking twice on four opportunities to run away with things.
Dimitrov will face David Goffin for the third time this season in Friday’s quarterfinals. The Bulgarian has won both of their previous encounters this season.
The rest of the quarterfinals shape up as follows: