Daily Times

GSTAAD: Dominic Thiem on Friday reached his first ATP Tour semi-final since May 2021 with a straight-sets victory over Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas in Gstaad.The former US Open champion won 6-4, 6-3 and will next face either second seed Matteo Berrettini or Pedro Martinez as he looks to make a first final since the 2020 ATP Finals.Thiem missed the second half of last year due to a wrist injury and lost his first six Tour matches this season.”I failed to serve out at (5-2 in the first set), but it was also the nerves a little bit because it is my first semi-final in one and a half years,” said Thiem, who also reached the quarter-finals in Bastad last week.I need the points to go back up the rankings. I was happy I was able to break the nerves.”Thiem, currently ranked 274th but now set to return to the top 200, will be hoping to win an 18th ATP title this weekend.”Tomorrow I can go into the match free, trying to do my best,” the 28-year-old added. “When I travelled to Bastad last week I didn’t expect to reach the quarter-finals there and then the semi-finals here.It is really, really good and I am happy with the progress.”