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World number 6 Dominic Thiem claimed the 17th win of the season and the 40th in Masters 1000 series after a 6-2 3-6 6-3 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in an hour and 51 minutes. Despite the set he lost it was a solid performance from Thiem, dropping just 16 points in 13 service games and getting broken twice.
Outside the second set Stefanos was unable to resist better, facing 11 break points and suffering four breaks, struggling to find the first serve in sets he lost and falling short in the closing stages of the match to end on the losing side.
Dominic had 24 winners and 20 unforced errors while Stefanos stood on a 20-31 ratio, which wasn't enough to emerge as the winner. Also, the Austrian had the edge in both the shortest and longer points to come out as a deserved winner and advance into the last 32.
It was the perfect start for Dominic, breaking in the opening game of the match after a deep return and once again in game three to sail through the opening set. He closed the set with a service winner in game eight and the youngster had a lot of work to do in the rest of the match in order to break rival's rhythm and impose his shots.
He did that in the second game of the second set when Thiem sent a backhand long to gain the lead, opening a 4-1 advantage with three good holds. The Greek saved a break point in game seven and he made an important hold to maintain the lead, wrapping up the set with an ace in game nine to send the encounter into a decider.
Thiem was the better player, dropping just six points on serve and breaking for a 3-1 lead in game four converting his fifth break point after a poor backhand from Stefanos. Thiem played only one poor service game but that cost him the lead in the seventh game, allowing Tsitsipas to reduce the deficit to 4-3 and get back on the scoreboard.
Nonetheless, Thiem broke again in game eight with a forehand winner and he closed the match with a hold at love in game nine to move into the next round. 2013 Indian Wells semi-finalist Tomas Berdych grabbed his 190th Masters 1000 win after a 6-1 6-4 triumph over Maximilian Marterer in 71 minutes. The young German improved his game a lot in recent times but he couldn't do much today, serving at 38% and losing almost half of the points in his games to get broke four times.
Tomas did a lot of damage with his first serve and he saved two out of three break points to keep the pressure on his rival all the time. The Czech won the last five games of the opening set for a 6-1 in under 30 minutes, scoring breaks in games four and six and sealing the deal with a hold at love in game seven.
Maximilian managed to strike back at the start of the second set, stealing Berdych's serve in game two to open up a 3-0 lead but he didn't stay in front for too long as Berdych broke back in game five to reduce the deficit.
He was now in control again and a complete turnaround occurred in game nine when he broke at love to serve for the match in the following game. Tomas had to save a break point but it all came out nicely for him, closing the encounter on his second match point to book the place in the third round. Second round results:
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