H2H: Dominic Thiem (Aut) vs. Jo Wilfried Tsonga (Fra)

Preview and players comparison.

Dominic Thiem is seeded #1 as he makes his tenth consecutive appearance in his home event of ATP Vienna this week. Thiem ended his disappointment and lifted his first title in front of the home fans in Kitzbuhel (C) a few months ago, which would probably take a bit of pressure off him heading into this campaign. The top-ranked Austrian reached the quarterfinal of ATP Vienna in 2018 and has got a solid 6-2 record in the first round matches here with those two defeats coming against Robin Haase in 2014, and Jerzy Janowicz in 2015 — both of these matches went to the distance.

Dominic Thiem’s only previous outing on indoor hardcourt this year came in the Laver Cup last month, where he defeated Denis Shapovalov in three sets and lost to Taylor Fritz in yet another three-setter. He has got a mediocre 49/40 career W/L record on the surface. World #5 Dominic Thiem has reached at least the quarterfinal in all his previous five ATP Tour events, which earned him a couple of titles in Kitzbuhel and Beijing a few weeks ago. This impressive run also secured him a place in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals.

Jo Wilfried Tsonga improved his opening-round record on indoor hardcourt this season to 5-1 with a straight-set win over Lorenzo Sonego in Antwerp last week but couldn’t add more wins as he was stopped by compatriot Gilles Simon in the second round. Former world #5 Jo Wilfried Tsonga, who has been one of the top performers on indoor hardcourts in recent years and has won 16 matches on the surface so far in 2019, is a former champion of ATP Vienna and also finished as the runner-up on two other occasions.

Both players would probably consider themselves unlucky as they have got a tough matchup in the first round of an ATP 500 series event. While Tsonga faces a top 5 opponent, Thiem will have to deal with a former champion who likes playing in these conditions. Jo Wilfried Tsonga leads the H2H series 2-0 with one of those wins coming here in Vienna in 2013. Regardless, expect this to be a close contest with both players have equal chances.