Dominic Thiem defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-0 in Sunday’s Barcelona Open final.  Austrian Thiem had earlier sent home Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-4 in the semis.

Thiem is looking strong ahead of the French Open.  Perennial favorite Rafael Nadal has not won two clay court tournaments back to back and is looking shaky on his favorite surface.

Thiem is the first Austrian winner in Barcelona since Thomas Muster.  Muster had won the tournament in 1995 and 1996.

“Winning this means a lot to me because it’s such a traditional and special tournament,” Thiem said. “Only great players have won here. Rafa has won it 11 times and it means a lot that Muster won it twice. It’s a big moment for me.”

“A title like this always gives you a lot of confidence, so I’ll be in a good mood going into Madrid,” Thiem said. “But the special thing about tennis is that I’ll start from zero in Madrid. All the guys there are really strong, so I’ll need to be ready from the first point.”

Justin Gimelstob,  ATP board member and commentator, pleaded no contest in a Los Angeles court on Monday to a felony battery charge for his part in a fight on Halloween night last year.

The judge reduced the charge to a misdemeanor and sentenced Gimelstob to three years’ probation and 60 days of community labor.  So basically, Gimelstob is not going to jail and is free to continue to his tennis career despite his despicable behavior.

Randall Kaplan, a venture capital and former friend of Gimelstob’s, accused him of attacking from behind while Kaplan’s wife, Madison and 2-year old were trick or treating on Halloween night. Kaplan said Gimelstob hit him on the head more about 100 times.  Madison Kaplan suffered a miscarriage two weeks later which she attributed to the trauma of seeing her husband beaten in front of their daughter.

Gimelstob’s lawyer, Michael Kump, said in a statement that Gimelstob, who also will be required to take an anger management course, had pleaded no contest to “move on with his professional life and focus on his family.”

Gimelstob will likely face a civil trial.  Even if he loses the civil trial, he will pay monetary damages on move on.

I fully expect Gimelstob to continue on the ATP board and continue to work for the Tennis Channel as a commentator.  He is well connected in tennis circles.  This incident is just a minor blip and and he will move on with his career.

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