One of the many highlights on a packed day at the Brisbane International tomorrow will be the quarterfinal clash between fourth seed Dominic Thiem, a semifinalist last year, and seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov, who reached the final back in 2013, and may be out for revenge after losing the only previous meeting between the two, in Acapulco last year, in straight sets.
This will be the third match on Show Court 1, not starting before 16:30 local the and the winner will face Milos Raonic or Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.
So far in Brisbane: both men in good form
The match between the two could be extremely tight, based on the promising form that both men have shown so far.
One advantage Thiem has is that, as one of the top four seeds, he received a bye in the opening round, meaning he may be fresher than his Bulgarian opponent. The Austrian showed no signs of rustiness in his opening clash of 2017, dispatching Sam Groth in a relatively convincing 7-6, 6-3 win.
It has been a difficult couple of seasons for Dimitrov, though his convincing victories so far suggest he may be a force to be reckoned with this season. The Bulgarian started against the potentially tricky Steve Johnson, losing just five games to the American, and he lost only six games in the second round, recording a comfortable win over Nicolas Mahut.
Analysis
The fact that both men are playing well suggests this could be a competitive match, and the fact that both rely on the same weapon- a one-handed backhand- as the strongest part of their game means we could get some interesting exchanges; neither can afford for this area to fail, as the other will most likely take advantage.
A strong backhand is likely to be more important for Dimitrov, who is the most inconsistent of the two and is the most likely to break down. The Bulgarian must try to bring the form of his past two matches and perhaps raise it, as Thiem is a player of a different class, though he can probably rely on the Austrian, the slightly more powerful and aggressive of the two, to make a few errors.
Thiem is the stronger of the two and will be extremely hard to beat, if he is near his best, though he can be prone to errors and, despite his superb 2016, is still a little inexperienced compared to Dimitrov, who will probably be able to capitalize on any mistakes. Furthermore, Thiem has only played a big server so far; he must quickly adapt to someone who has a more of an all-around, challenging game.
Assessment
This is a tight clash to call, with both men playing well, though Thiem has been the in-form player of the two in recent years and should be able to take this; however, it should not be too much of a surprise if Dimitrov pulled off the slight upset.
Prediction: Dominic Thiem in three sets