Tennis pro Yannick Hanfmann defeated local hero Dominic Thiem in Kitzbühel to reach the semi-finals of an ATP tournament for the first time in a year. The 30-year-old from Weinheim defeated the former US Open winner 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Austrian Thiem has been showing a slow upward trend of late after returning from a lengthy injury at the end of March, but was beaten after 2:27 hours. The match was suspended at 5:4 for Hanfmann in the third set due to rain, and the 140th-ranked player in the world then used his third match point to win thanks to a forehand error by Thiem. “What a drama, what an atmosphere,” he said in the winner’s interview.
Hanfmann will now face the winner of the match between Dusan Lajovic of Serbia and Filip Misolic of Austria in the semi-finals at the €534,555 clay court event. Hanfmann last reached the Bastad semi-finals in mid-July 2021. So far in his career, he has reached an ATP final twice – most recently in Kitzbühel in 2020 – and is still waiting for his first title.
