betprepare.com

Troicki can play again

While the young Thiem made a big step up on the ATP table this season, Troicki got eliminated out of the top 800 because of the penalty. He got his last invitation in Gstaad, and judging by his words, he has big expectations from the first tournament

Getty Images

After he was disappointing in the first round of Wimbledon already, Thiem got back to his favorite clay where he showed good tennis once again. So, he surprised Vesely in the first round of Hamburg, and then he broke Granollers-Pujol in three sets in the second round. Thiem showed good game in those two matches, but also the fact that he often oscillates. 

He couldn't go further than the round of 16. Mayer played a phenomenal match and left Thiem without a chance. Dominic admitted after the match that he didn't play well and he doesn't know why he lacked strength in his hits, but realistically speaking, he lacked a lot in that match, starting with service. He then stated:

- A better player won today, and it was easy for him. I played a bad match, I lacked strength in hits. Usually you don't want to force yourself on training between tournaments, but now, my priority is to find my hits before Gstaad. I'll have lots of extra practice hours.

While Thiem is bothered by only one match, Viktor Troicki is bothered by a good part of his career. The Serbian player refused to give blood for the doping control in Monte Carlo, claiming he felt bad, and the punishment was 18 months of not playing tennis. He filed a complaint and managed to reduce it to 12, but he's aware he has a long and difficult road ahead of him.

So, Viktor went to Gstaad even though he wasn't sure he'll get an invite. He felt great physically and he trained a lot, spared with Djokovic, but we should take into consideration that he didn't play a real competitive match for a long time. His goal this season is to get back to Top 100, but that seems like a mission impossible at the moment, because he'll continue to need the invites for the ATP tournaments.

- I want to show everyone how unjust this decision was, but I also want to make up for the time I was absent as soon as possible. I don't know how much time I'll need to get back, I'll need invites for the tournaments, and I also plan to play a few challengers in Italy, so I can get back to Top 100 this year - Viktor was optimistic.

Even though Troicki is a good player who would be a favorite against Thiem in normal circumstances, he'll hardly win the first match. He's ready physically, but he didn't prepare for the tournament mentally because he wasn't even sure if he'll play Gstaad. On the other hand, Thiem has consistency and is really much closer to winning.