Dominic Thiem beats Matteo Berrettini to win Berlin grasscourt tournament

Even though the tennis tour is on a break due to COVID-19, Dominic Thiem has barely taken any time off. The Austrian ace has refused to sit still during the pandemic and has instead been continuously travelling all over, playing in various exhibition tournaments to keep in shape for the resumption of competitive tennis.

The World No. 3 has been playing a new exhibition event practically every week. And on Thursday, Dominic Thiem won the exhibition tournament played on the grass courts of Berlin, beating Matteo Berrettini in the final.

Dominic Thiem looked in decent touch as he clinched the big points to down grasscourt specialist Berrettini 6-7(4) 6-4 10-8.

This win should give some much-needed grasscourt confidence to Thiem, who has struggled on the surface for most of his career.

Since beating eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer to win his maiden grasscourt title at Stuttgart in 2016, Dominic Thiem hasn't found much luck on the slick surface. The super-athletic Austrian, who prefers the dogfight of clay to the more pinpoint tennis played on grass, has lost in the opening week of Wimbledon in all but one year of his career.

Thiem's best result at Wimbledon came in 2017, when he went down fighting to Tomas Berdych in a thrilling five-setter on the tournament's famous 'Manic Monday'.

Dominic Thiem fights past his grasscourt demons

Dominic Thiem won the ATP Stuttgart 2016, his only official grass court title till date.

The last two years, Dominic Thiem has exited the grasscourt Slam in the opening round itself. He lost to Sam Querrey in 2019, and was forced to retire against Marcos Baghdatis in 2018 after being down two sets and a break in the third.

But Dominic Thiem looked fairly comfortable in the two matches he played in Berlin. His semifinal win over youngster Jannik Sinner was impressive in that he was able to adapt to grass just days after playing on clay at his own tournament - 'Thiems 7' - back in Austria.

Thiem overcame the young Italian 6-3 7-6, while Sinner's compatriot Berrettini reached the final by beating Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in a match tiebreak.

In the final against Berrettini, Thiem looked in full control during the first set, winning 20 out of 20 points on his first serve. But the Austrian let his guard down while leading 4-1 in the tiebreak, and Berrettini quickly capitalized to win six straight points and with it the set.

The World No. 3, staying true to his reputation, fought back and won the second set 6-4. It came down to the smallest of margins as Dominic Thiem edged Berrettini 10-8 in a tightly contested match tiebreak to end his short grasscourt stint on a high note.

Even though Wimbledon is cancelled this year, the 26-year-old would be happy with this added grasscourt exposure given his past demons on the surface. For now, Dominic Thiem is - and perhaps will remain - the only player to win a grasscourt title in 2020.