Thiem downs De Minaur to make Madrid quarterfinals

Madrid (AFP): Dominic Thiem qualified for the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open on Thursday after beating Australia’s Alex de Minaur 7-6 (9/7), 6-4.

US Open champion Thiem, playing his first tournament since Dubai in March, will meet Andrey Rublev or John Isner in the last eight.

Thiem lost his serve in the opening game but recovered with a break for three-all. He missed a set point in the tie-break and then saved one before clinching the first set at the second attempt.

The Austrian third seed withstood three break points early in the second set and then broke de Minaur the following game.

De Minaur, the world number 24, hit back to level at three-all but promptly dropped serve the next game as Thiem secured victory in just under two hours.

Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan also progressed to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over in-form Russian Aslan Karatsev.