Second round action began at the Western & Southern Open and Dominic Thiem who faced John Millman defeated the Australian 7-5, 6-1 to progress to the third round. The match was delayed for two hours before the match eventually got underway.
Dominic Thiem gets late break to seal the opening set
John Millman got the match by holding his serve. Dominic Thiem, however, was given a scare. At 15-30, the Austrian hit a forehand wide which gave the first break of the match to Millman. However, Thiem fought back and saved both the break points before going on to hold serve and get on the scoreboard.
In the following game, it was Thiem who would get his first break point chance. At 30-all, following an exchange of shots, the Australian netted a slice and the eighth seed had a break point. Again, following an exchange, Millman hit a forehand in the net and Thiem got the first break of the set. The world number nine failed to consolidate the break and Millman got the break back for 2-2.
The next four games saw four comfortable holds of serve. With the score now at 4-4, Millman was put under pressure once more. Dominic Thiem had two chances to break the Australian's serve, both at advantage, but the Australian denied the Austrian and held serve with a backhand winner down the line.
Thiem held his next serve and once again pressured Millman. The world number nine ran away to a love-40 lead and Millman saved the first one wrong footing the Austrian. However, Thiem came back and following a baseline rally, the 22-year-old forced the 27-year-old into playing one more shot and he netted a forehand as Thiem went 6-5 up. Thiem held serve and won the first set 7-5.
Thiem runs away with the set; books spot in round three
Thiem got off to the perfect start in the set. In the opening game, he fashioned a break point chance which was put away. In the following game, the eighth seed consolidated the break to love and was 2-0 up early on. The Austrian continued to dominate the set and broke the Australian who put a forehand wide. the world number 91 did get a break back, however, Thiem broke straight back after having two break points saved earlier in the game.
The Austrian lead 4-1. The eighth seed held serve and put Millman under pressure who was serving to stay in the match 5-1 down. The Australian failed to hold serve and for the third and last time, he was broken which gave Thiem the victory and a place in the third round. The Austrian awaits the winner of the match between ninth seed Gael Monfils and Marcos Baghdatis.