The Acapulco final features Dominic Thiem taking on Bernard Tomic for the first time. The Tennis Review previews the action and predicts the winner.
Head to Head: This will be the first meeting between the Austrian 22 year old and the Australian 23 year old. Thiem, ranked 15, and Tomic, 21, are two of the best players of their generation, and could be facing each other for Grand Slam titles which makes this match particularly intriguing.
The current ATP is dominated by players aged in the mid twenties to early 30s- the youngest player ranked above Thiem is world No.13 Milos Raonic, aged 25, while the top ten, apart from 26 year old Kei Nishikori, is made up of players aged 28 and over.
Slower surfaces and a more physical game mean the speed and youthful athleticism of the likes of Thiem and Tomic is not as rewarded as it once was, but the experience and talent these two are gaining means that when the older players move on from the professional tour, they will be the best equipped to take over.
With these two being two of the most talented under 23 year olds in the top 100, the likely scenario is that in three or four years time we will be seeing them contest for ATP 1000 titles and slams with the likes of Goffin, Raonic, and Nishikori.
Form coming in: Thiem is on a great streak, coming off a win in Buenos Aires and a semi-final finish in Rio in the last two weeks.
On his way to the Buenos Aires trophy, he pulled off a third set tiebreaker win over Rafael Nadal, and in the Rio quarters he beat David Ferrer in straights.
Tomic had a decent Australian Summer, making the Australian Open last sixteen, but was then upset by Lorenzi in the Quito quarters and by Ram in the first round of Delray beach.
Who is the favorite?: Thiem. He may not have any hard court titles yet, but he has been a last sixteener at the US Open (2014), and his recent improvement on his serve, which gives him more short balls to get easy points from, makes him stronger on faster courts.
Along with his serve and aggressive mindset, Thiem has another weapon- the one handed backhand, which he can let rip for winners on the attack, and on the defense, too.
Thiem is also very match fit and has been playing some of the best tennis of his career lately, and his run to this final saw him defeat former Champion Grigor Dimitrov in straights.
Of the two, Thiem seems the more focused, the mentally tougher, and his rout of Querrey which featured some very impressive stats shows us how in-form he is.
Tomic could win if: Tomic is in fighting mood, seeing off Alexandr Dolgopolov in three sets in the semis, and he will push Thiem.
He has the hard courts skills to win here -he has hard court titles in Sydney (2013), and Bogota (2014, 2015)- but he is going to have to serve at his best, be consistent, and be mentally tough against such a steady player as Thiem.
Tomic also has plenty of variety and his slice can trouble Thiem, but he will have to be moving well because Thiem will get him running and not give him a lot of time to do what he wants with the ball.
Who Will Win?: Thiem. He is playing the better tennis, is the mentally stronger, and has the serve and aggressive ground-strokes to beat Tomic here.
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