Dominic Thiem and Joao Sousa will play against each other in the first match of the Gijon Open. The game will start on October 10 at 18:30.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #1 – Handicap (-4) for Thiem – 1.87.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #2 – Total Games Under 23 – 1.53.
Thiem leads 6-1 in their head-to-head encounters with Sousa. He will be favoured in the upcoming meeting. Dominic is showing a good game in the second half of the season. He played in the quarter-finals in Kitzbühel and also managed to reach the final in Rennes. We expect a productive performance from the Austrian on the courts in Gijon as well.
Thiem has previously beaten Sousa six times in his career. We believe that Dominic will again defeat Joao in the upcoming match. He will do it with a comfortable score for himself. Joao has slowed down considerably in the second half of the season, while Thiem, on the contrary, has been improving from match to match.
Thiem’s main objective for the rest of the season is to get back into the top 100. If he fails, he will have to qualify for the Australian Open. So far, the Austrian is only 162nd.
Dominic played in three tournaments in September. First, the former world #3 reached the final on the Challenger in Rennes. In the decisive match, Dominic lost to Ugo Humbert (3-6, 0-6).
In Metz, Thiem played one round against Richard Gasquet (6-3, 7-6) before losing to Hubert Hurkacz (3-6, 4-6).
In Tel Aviv, Thiem narrowly defeated Laslo Djere (5-7, 7-6, 6-4) in his first match and then lost in the second round to Marin Cilic (7-6, 2-6, 4-6).
There has been at least one tie-break in three of Thiem’s last five matches.
Sousa has had a weak previous few months. Moreover, since Roland Garros, he has only won two matches at the ATP level.
The Portuguese had one win each at Kitzbühel and at the US Open. At the other tournaments, he was eliminated after the first round.
Including at recent tournaments in Metz and Tel Aviv. In the first, world #62 lost to Stan Wawrinka (6-7, 2-6) and in the second to Botic van de Zandschulp (2-6, 3-6).
In the last four hard-court tournaments, Sousa has been eliminated after the first round.
In 3 of Sousa’s last 5 matches, less than 9.5 games have been played in the first set. We offer to bet on “1st Set Games – Under 9.5” with odds of 1.84.
In the last five matches, Thiem has played three tie-breaks. We offer to bet on “Tie-Break – Yes” with odds of 2.27.
Type of Court – Indoor Hard
Speed of Court – 7/10
Thiem’s Rating – 162
Dominic Thiem Wins/Losses in 2022 – 16/16
Sousa’s Rating – 62
Joao Sousa Wins/Losses in 2022 – 24/30
Dominic Thiem leads with a score of 6-1 in the head-to-head encounters. The last time they met was at the Halle Open in 2016. In that match, Thiem defeated Sousa (7-5, 6-4) in two sets.
The match will be played at Center Court, Palacio de Deportes de Gijón, Gijon, Spain.
We recommend checking out the odds for the 2022 Gijon Open: Thiem vs Sousa at 1xBet.