Australia’s Marinko Matosevic knocked the last home player out of the ATP’s Austrian Open on Thursday, defeating Dominic Thiem 6-3 7-6 (7-5) to set up a quarter-final against top seed Juan Martin del Potro.
Matosevic, ranked 55 in the world, will be playing his fifth quarter-final of the season when he faces the Argentina star, who fought for just over three hours to win his opening match on Wednesday.
Matosevic improved his record to 16-17 this season with his win over wildcard Thiem, who was the final chance for the host nation at the Stadthalle following the exit of two-time champion and fourth seed Jurgen Melzer.
“I played well against a tough opponent, he had the crowd on his side and I needed to concentrate,” said Matosevic after his win over Thiem, the world 394.
“I’m glad to win and am looking forward to a test against Del Potro. He’s been serving unbelievably but I’m ready for a tough match.”
Matosevic had already made a breakthrough this week, ending a six-match losing streak when he beat sixth-seeded Dutchman Robin Hasse in the opening round.
Slovenia’s Grega Zemlja shattered Australian hopes of seeing two players in the quarter-finals when he defeated Matthew Ebden 7-5 6-4.
Second seed Janko Tipsarevic advanced with a 6-3 6-4 defeat of Ernests Gulbis and tried to put the race for the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals out of his mind.
The Serb, who has been a top 10 regular for a year, said that standing provisional ninth in the chase for the eight-man London showpiece means that he must focus constantly on the court.
“I try not to think of anything before me or behind me,” he said of the race in which he has a 400-point cushion against a pack of trailing rivals.