By Chris Oddo | Sunday July 26, 2015
Dominic Thiem played a near-perfect final in Umag, racing past Joao Sousa in 61 minutes, 6-4, 6-1.
Photo Source: Croatian Open
When Dominic Thiem is belting a ball all over a clay court as he did today against Joao Sousa in the Umag final, there’s very little an opponent can do. Thiem, a hulking physical presense with a beastly yet refined game, came at his opponent hard and fast with guns blazing and raced to a 6-4, 6-1 triumph at the Croatian Open for his second career title.
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The 21-year-old became the 8th player born in the 1990s to win an ATP title this May when he won the Nice title. Just two months later he is now the only player born in the 1990s to own multiple titles in 2015.
After roaring back from a set down to defeat Gael Monfils to reach the final on Saturday, there was no letting up for Thiem. He dropped only two points on serve in the first set and notched the critical break to take a 4-3 lead with a perfectly placed forehand drop volley.
From that moment, much to the chagrin of Sousa, it was all one-way traffic from Thiem’s side of the court.
Theim would reel off the first five games of the second set, causing Sousa, who was the first Portuguese player to reach the Umag final, to shrug his shoulders in disbelief as to say “What am I supposed to do?”
In just his third career final, Thiem played as if he’d been spending the last ten years playing finals on the globe’s biggest courts. He came, he saw and he conquered, with pinpoint accuracy and devastating pace.
Maximo Gonzalez and Andre Sa took the doubles title over Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Santiago Gonzalez on Saturday, winning 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.