Schwartzman/Thiem Cruise Into Madrid Final
Diego Schwartzman and Dominic Thiem advanced to their second final of the 2019 season on Saturday, beating Guido Pella and Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-2 at the Mutua Madrid Open.
Schwartzman and Thiem, who reached the Argentina Open championship match in February (l. to Gonzalez/Zeballos), saved all four break points they faced to advance after 57 minutes. The Argentine-Austrian tandem dropped just five points behind its first serves (23/28) to set a final meeting with Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.
Schwartzman and Thiem navigated two Match Tie-breaks en route to the last four. The unseeded duo came from a set down to beat David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-3, 10-3 in the first round and also rallied to beat sixth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic 2-6, 6-3, 10-7 in the quarter-finals.
The unseeded duo improves to 9-3 at tour-level as a team. Schwartzman and Thiem first competed as a pairing at the 2017 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, before back-to-back appearances at the Argentina Open in 2018 and 2019.