Thiem rolls to Barcelona title

Reuters - Austria’s Dominic Thiem thumped Russia’s Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-0 on Sunday to capture the Barcelona Open title.

The third-seeded Thiem followed up his semifinal upset of 11-time Barcelona champion Rafael Nadal by eliminating No. 7 seed Medvedev in one hour and 13 minutes.

After an early break by Medvedev, Thiem won 12 of the last 13 games to win his 13th career title — his ninth on clay. Thiem defeated Roger Federer in the final at Indian Wells last month for his first Masters 1000 championship.

Thiem, 25, did not drop a set during his five matches this week in Spain, including Saturday’s 6-4, 6-4 win against the top-seeded Nadal.

“A title like this always gives you a lot of confidence, so I’ll be in a good mood going into Madrid,” Thiem said of the May 5-12 Madrid Open, where he was the runner-up in 2017 and 2018. “All the guys there are really strong, so I’ll need to be ready from the first point.”

Hungarian Open

Italy’s Matteo Berrettini arrived in Budapest with a five-match losing streak but leaves as the champion after a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win against Serbian qualifier Filip Krajinovic.

Despite the slow start, Berretini won 81 percent of his service points and wore down Krajinovic with his aggressive play from the baseline.

“It was a really tough match. The conditions [were tough], it was cold and windy. The balls were moving a lot. So I was really focused on my game,” Berrettini said. “After the first set I just told myself to fight game after game, point after point and I’m really happy because it was really difficult.”

It is the second tour title for the 23-year-old Berretini, winner of the 2018 Swiss Open.