Nordea Open 2022: Dominic Thiem vs. Sebastian Baez Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Nordea Open as Dominic Thiem takes on Sebastian Baez in the quarterfinal on Friday, July 15th, 2022.

Will Dominic Thiem keep the momentum going at the NordeaOpen? Or will the high-flying Sebastian Baez send the Austrian back to the drawing board? This promises to be a pulsating last-eight meeting and we hope it lives up to the billing.

It took a while, but Dominic Thiem is now motoring at the Nordea Open. After securing his first tour-level win in more than year by beating Emil Ruusuvuori, Thiem has got another in quick succession. The Austrian outlasted the seemingly indefatigable Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets to reach the quarterfinals. The 2020 US Open champion converted two of his eight break points and won72% first-serve points. It would be a major storyline if he was to go all the way, but his task will get slightly more complicated when he takes on Sebastian Baez.

Sebastian Baez, for his part, outplayed Monte Carlo finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and triumphed in straight sets. Baez won 6-2 6-3 to reach his sixth quarterfinal of the season at the Nordea Open. The Argentine produced a near flawlessperformance in which he was never broken and erased the two break points he faced in the match. Baez was aggressive and intense behind the return. He broke the Spaniard three times throughout the contest.

Dominic Thiem and Sebastian Baez have not played each other on the ATP Tour. Friday’s match at the Nordea Open will be their first official meeting. Baez is in the form of his life right now and naturally is more at home on clay. Thiem is no slouch in terms of competence and lest we forget he was once regarded as the second-best clay courter a few seasons back. But with that nasty wrist injury costing him nearly a year of playing time, he has lacked match practice. He is slowly building his confidence, but he is likely to fall short on Friday.