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Dominic Thiem reached his first tour-level semifinal since May 2021 by making it to the last-four stage of the Swiss Open in Gstaad on Friday. This comes on the back of Thiem's quarterfinal appearance at Bastad last week.
The former US Open champion, who had a terrible start to his comeback from a wrist injury, has been gaining confidence over the past couple of weeks, much to the delight of tennis fans.
The Austrian defeated Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas 6-4, 6-3 in the Gstaad quarterfinals to set up a meeting with second seed Matteo Berrettini. Thiem is set to break into the top 200 of the ATP rankings, courtesy of Friday's victory.
After a slow and demoralizing start to his comeback, which saw him lose 10 matches in a row on tour, Dominic Thiem has now won five of his last six. As his comeback gathers pace and positivity, fans of Thiem reacted to his latest win on Twitter.
"It is so wonderful to see Dominic Thiem playing my current favourite shot in men's tennis so well again. It truly is a thing of beauty. Wins are coming, confidence is building and I'm so happy he's back," a fan wrote on Twitter.
The former World No. 3 will face his toughest test so far, not just at the Swiss Open but also on his comeback trail, against Berrettini on Saturday. Fans are keen to see how he fares against the Italian.
"Showdown with Berrettini will give actual hint of how competitive he can be against the top players. Hoping for a Great match," another fan tweeted ahead of Saturday's semifinal clash.
Here are some more reactions after Thiem's quarterfinal win against Varillas:
"It is really, really good and I am happy with the progress" - Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem, who is now up to No. 195 in the live ATP rankings, admitted that he did not expect to make the quarterfinals and semifinals in consecutive weeks. Speaking in his on-court interview after Friday's victory, the 28-year-old expressed sheer delight at his recent performances and said that he will enter the match against Berrettini with a 'free' mindset.
“Tomorrow I can go into the match free, trying to do my best," said Thiem. "When I travelled to Bastad last week I didn’t expect to reach the quarter-finals there and then the semi-finals here. It is really, really good and I am happy with the progress."
While he was happy with his overall performance in the Swiss Open quarterfinals, Thiem admitted that nerves played a part in the match, with the prospect of reaching his first ATP semifinal in over a year.
"Some things I didn’t like that much. I failed to serve out at [5-2], but it was also the nerves a little bit because it is my first semi-final in one and a half years. I need the points to go back up the rankings. I was happy I was able to break the nerves," he explained.
Thiem will aim to climb as high as possible in the rankings before the start of the US Open on August 29, hoping to avoid facing some of the top title contenders in the early rounds. The 2022 US Open will be his first appearance at the New York Grand Slam since winning the 2020 final against Alexander Zverev.
