Mubadala WTC: Dominic Thiem replaces Rafael Nadal but fails again
For the second time in three days, Karen Khachanov has defeated Dominic Thiem in Abu Dhabi, securing the third place at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship on his debut following a 6-3, 4-6, 10-3 triumph. Karen should have played against Rafael Nadal but the Spaniard decided to withdraw from the tournament after the yesterday's defeat to Kevin Anderson, taking a few days off before starting the official 2019 season in Brisbane and being replaced by Thiem who get the opportunity to play another match here.
On Thursday, Khachanov toppled Thiem 7-6, 6-3 and he managed to prevail again today despite the second set setback when he lost the ground a little bit before restoring the order in the match tie break. Thiem already suffered two losses against Khachanov and Chung and he was off to a very slow start in today's match as well, saving three break points in his opening service games before getting broken at 3-3 to send Karen in front when he netted an easy forehand. The Russian secured the opening set after a break at love in game nine following another poor forehand from the Austrian, looking good to wrap up the win in no time at all.
Dominic raised his level significantly in set number two, serving much better and saving a break point at 3-4 to stay in contention. Khachanov started to struggle a little bit after that and he got broken in the game that followed, giving his serve away after some seven deuces and three break points for Thiem who held at love with a service winner in game 10 to secure the set and set up the deciding match tie break. Karen regained his focus in the crucial moment, taking all seven points on serve and scoring three mini-breaks early on to build a huge lead, sealing the deal in the 13th point with a volley winner after a lucky net cord.
Third place match result:
Karen Khachanov (RUS) vs Dominic Thiem (AUT) 6-3 4-6 10-3
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2rVH5uK
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