Dominic Thiem continued his dominant run of late as he demolished Sam Querrey in straight sets to set up a showdown with Bernard Tomic for the Abierto Mexicano Telcel title.
Thiem Bombards Querrey, Heads to Second Final of 2016
Fourth seed Dominic Thiem was never threatened in the semifinals on Friday. The Austrian powered past Sam Querrey in just 57 minutes by a final of 6-2, 6-2. Thiem announced his intentions in the opening game of the match as he broke Querrey to begin the proceedings. That was just the fourth time the 28-year-old American had been broke all tournament. Thiem would pile on a second break late in the set. Querrey continued to offer little resistance in the second set as he was again broken to open the set. Thiem would pound his serve down Querrey's throat over and over with easy service holds. Again, the fourth seed would add a bonus break late as he sewed up the match on serve.
For the match, Thiem was deadly accurate on serve. He would win 33 of 41 service points and never faced a break point. On the other side of the net, Querrey had his worst serving display of the tournament. The American only managed to win 59 percent of the points off his first serve. That had been a major weapon in helping him advance to the semifinals. He was broken four times, which was more than he had been in the previous three rounds combined.
Tomic Survives Early Troubles, Rumbles Past Dolgopolov
The first set between fifth seed Bernard Tomic and Alexandr Dolgopolov looked dire for the seeded Aussie. His serve was weak throughout the set as Dolgopolov repeatedly put him under pressure. The Ukrainian would break Tomic twice early en route to a quick 4-0 lead in the first set. Tomic would finally hold a service game to get on the board at 4-1. The two then begin to engage in some lengthy ground rallies, where Tomic seemed to have some hope of getting at least one break back. A 13 point sixth game in the set featured some of the best tennis from both players off the ground, but it was Dolgopolov who found a way to deny Tomic on two break chances. A disheveled Tomic looked listless on his final service game of the set as he basically decided not to expend any more energy on the set. Dolgopolov broke him for the third time to claim the opener 6-1.
The second set featured much better from Tomic as he began to gain firmer footing in the match. He would see a break chance in the opening game, but Dolgopolov held. That began a string of eight straight service holds. Neither player looked as if they would crack on serve, but it was Dolgopolov who did in game nine. He fell behind 15-40 as Tomic finally broke through on the third try to secure the lead at 5-4. The Aussie would work through a tough final serve to even the match at one set each with a 6-4 second set win.
The final set showed some wear on both players early as another 13 point game opened the finale. Dolgopolov was forced to try and save five break chances, but could not hold on the fifth attempt. Tomic would not assume control though as Dolgopolov broke right back to get on serve. After an exchange of holds, it would be the Aussie who scored the decisive break in game five. After consolidating to a 4-2 lead, Tomic was never troubled the rest of the way. He would break the Ukrainian once more in the final game to finish off a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.
The win puts Tomic into his first final since last July, when he won the title in Bogota. The Aussie said in his post-match comments that Dolgopolov proved a difficult test in the semifinals, "He is very tough. You just have to stay with him in the match. His level of play was too good in the first set. So I knew I had to stay with him and take advantage of my opportunities."
Saturday's Final
The clash between Thiem and Tomic will be their first. Thiem already has one title to his credit this year, winning at the Argentina Open on clay earlier this month. Both have good records in their limited number of ATP World Tour finals. Thiem is 4-1, while Tomic is 3-1. A win for Thiem would see him closing in on the top ten in the rankings, while a Tomic win would see him rally close to Thiem's current ranking of 15th.