Improving Thiem storms into semi-finals in Gijon

Austrian Dominic Thiem continued his recent improvement as he beat Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, the No 4 seed, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the last four of the Gijon Open at the Palacio de Deportes on Friday.

Thiem, ranked No 165, will play the winner of the match between Russian Andrey Rublev, the top seed, and American Tommy Paul, the No 5 seed, next.

After nine months out with a serious wrist injury, it’s Thiem’s semi-final of 2022, following on from Gstaad in July – but his first on hardcourts since the ATP Finals in 2020, the year he won the US Open.

Victory in Gijon would put Thiem back into the top 100.

In the previous rounds, the Austrian won against Portuguese João Sousa (6-2, 6-0) and American Marcos Giron (3-6, 6-4, 6-0).

Cerundolo, ranked No 29, beat French qualifier Manuel Guinard (7-6 (5), 6-2).

Gijon ATP 250, other quarter-finals results (Palacio deportes, EUR 612.000, most recent results first):

• Andy Murray vs. Sebastian Korda
• Arthur Rinderknech vs. Pablo Carreno Busta
• Andrey Rublev vs. Tommy Paul