Australian Open eighth seed Dominic Thiem will be out to improve his form line when he takes on comeback king Jordan Thompson in the second round. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of the match from around 8:30pm (AEDT).
Thiem had a pretty weak start to his summer of tennis and looked nothing near his best at either the Brisbane or Sydney International.
While he got a win in his first round match at the Australian Open, it was less than convincing and he will be out to make major improvements against the Australian if he wants to keep his run alive.
After bombing out of the Brisbane International against Grigor Dimitrov with only one win to his name, which came against Sam Groth, he then beat Gastao Elias in his first match at the Sydney International.
Despite being favourite to continue on in the tournament, Thiem was then beaten by Daniel Evans and came to Melbourne with a massive cloud hovering over his head.
He again struggled to play his best tennis in the first round against the lowly ranked Jan-Lennard Struff. After losing the first set, he played better to win the next three and advance to the second round.
Given the way Thompson is playing, though, and the fighting spirit he displayed in the first round, Thiem will need a marked improvement.
Thompson played in both Brisbane and Sydney to start his season like Thiem and made it all the way to the quarter-finals in Brisbane before bombing out against Kei Nishikori in straight sets. That came after a big upset against David Ferrer.
After a second-round exit in Sydney, Thompson was drawn to play Portugal’s Joao Souza in the first round at Melbourne and looked in all sorts of trouble down two sets to love.
He then came back and only dropped six games across the final three sets to take a memorable victory in front of a solid crowd on Show Court 2.
Thompson’s final set was an utter domination and if he gets his serve right, Thiem may seriously struggle to break him.
The pair have never faced each other before this meeting and the winner will go on to face either Benoit Paire or Fabio Fognini.
Prediction
Thompson, as he always seems to do, will fight hard here and probably take it all the way, but Thiem will have too much for him under pressure at the back end of the match.
Thiem in five sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this match from around 8:30pm (AEDT) or at the completion of Mirjana Lucic-Baroni vs third seed Agnieszka Radwanska on Margaret Court Arena and don’t forget to add your own comments in the section below.
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Scott Pryde
Expert
That'll do it here on The Roar for our coverage of Jordan Thompson vs Dominic Thiem as the Austrian eighth seed advanced to the third round in four sets. Hopefully you enjoyed the call. Right now, you can still check out live scores of Rafael Nadal vs Marcos Baghdatis. Tomorrow, the live blogging ramps up with three matches for your viewing on The Roar. First, I'll have Bernard Tomic vs Dan Evans at 4pm (AEDT), Riley Pettigrew will follow with Ashleigh Barty vs Mona Barthel at 7pm and Cronan Yu will wrap the day up with Tomas Berdych vs Roger Federer at around 8:30pm. Bye for now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thiem moves on now to face Benoit Paire in the third round on Saturday.
Scott Pryde
Expert
GAME, SET, MATCH Dominic Thiem Well, Thompson fought and he fought hard here to extend it to a fourth set but after 2 hours and 44 minutes he claims the win as Thompson returns serve into the net. An absolutely brilliant effort from Thiem though. Hit everything tonight and easily his best match of the summer so far. Dominic Thiem 6 6 6 6 Jordan Thompson 2 1 7 4
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thiem takes a risk here to go big down the middle and Thompson returns long. Risk pays off and Thiem has three match points. Thiem 6 6 6 5 - 40 Thompson 2 1 7 4 - 15
Scott Pryde
Expert
Great power from Thiem after a fault, cracking a backhand into the corner which Thompson can't clear the net on. Thiem 6 6 6 5 - 30 Thompson 2 1 7 4 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
Body serve to start and Thompson returns wide. Thiem 6 6 6 5 - 15 Thompson 2 1 7 4 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thompson goes with a booming serve down the middle and holds serve as Thiem can't return it. Well, it's crunch time. Thiem to serve for the match on the other side of the change of ends. Thiem 6 6 6 5 - Thompson 2 1 7 4 -
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thompson tries to go down the middle again and it's a fault before Thiem cracks the backhand return into the corner. Unplayable for the Aussie. Thiem 6 6 6 5 - 15 Thompson 2 1 7 3 - 40
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thompson faults, attacking the middle before Thiem leaps forward for the return of the second and hits it long once again. Thiem 6 6 6 5 - 0 Thompson 2 1 7 3 - 40
Scott Pryde
Expert
Another wide serve, this time with Thiem trying for the backhand block return but goes back across the court and long. Thiem 6 6 6 5 - 0 Thompson 2 1 7 3 - 30
Scott Pryde
Expert
Fault from Thompson to start off before he goes wide and Thiem returns on a block forehand long. Thiem 6 6 6 5 - 0 Thompson 2 1 7 3 - 15
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thiem with a fault this time before Thompson attacks the second again but puts the forehand long. So then, Thompson now serving to keep the match alive and it's important he isn't broken here. Thiem 6 6 6 5 - Thompson 2 1 7 3 -
Scott Pryde
Expert
Fault from Thiem now as he goes for another. Thompson attacks the second and Thiem puts a forehand into the net. Thiem 6 6 6 4 - 40 Thompson 2 1 7 3 - 15
Scott Pryde
Expert
ACE! And again! Thompson didn't even have a chance to move there. Thiem 6 6 6 4 - 40 Thompson 2 1 7 3 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
ACE! Thiem goes down the middle. Thiem 6 6 6 4 - 30 Thompson 2 1 7 3 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thiem serves wide this time and Thompson returns into the net. Thiem 6 6 6 4 - 15 Thompson 2 1 7 3 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
Fault yet again and he just can't get these first serves in at the moment. The second is at the body and returned well but Thompson moves into position well and hits the winner down the line on the backhand side! Great shot and the match rolls on for at least 2 more games. Thiem 6 6 6 4 - Thompson 2 1 7 3 -
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thompson with another fault before attacking with a body serve. Thiem looks for a big forehand but misses it again and the frustration is growing for the eighth seed. Thiem 6 6 6 4 - Thompson 2 1 7 2 - AD
Scott Pryde
Expert
Ah pressure on Thompson! Double fault this time as he tries to go big on the second. His serve has lost its way here. Thiem 6 6 6 4 - Thompson 2 1 7 2 - deuce (3)
Scott Pryde
Expert
Wide serve and Thiem returns the forehand into the net. Thiem 6 6 6 4 - Thompson 2 1 7 2 - AD