Wiener Stadthalle Hard Court Championship
Medvedev knocked out Thiem 6-3 6-3 at the Wiener Stadthalle hard court in the Austrian capital, responding to boos from home fans with a mocking "cool" gesture after match point.
Having recently become a father for the first time when his wife Daria gave birth to their daughter, Medvedev said on the eve of the Vienna tournament that he experienced "so many emotions that I thought I couldn't feel".
But on Thursday, the Russian world number four looked hyper-focused as he seeks to finish the season at the highest level, converting three of his six break points on Thiem's serve and saving the only point he faced from the Austrian.
Restored to its full form after a period of hiatus
Meanwhile, 29-year-old Tim is still regaining full shape and form after a long hiatus due to a wrist injury he sustained in June last year.
The Austrian - the 2020 US Open champion but dropped to world number 113 - has appeared in the semi-finals in Gijon and the European Open in recent weeks, before facing Medvedev in Vienna.
Medvedev retires from the semi-finals
Medvedev himself, 26, was forced to retire from the semi-finals against Novak Djokovic at the Astana Open in Kazakhstan earlier this month, but has returned with two routine victories in Vienna so far, having defeated Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili in two sets in the previous round.
Medvedev hopes to finish 2022 after a season in which he reached the Australian Open final in January, held the world No. 1 for 16 weeks, and won the ATP title in Los Cabos, Mexico.
But the Moscow star also had to endure setbacks such as a hernia operation and the frustration of a fourth-round exit at the US Open in September, where he was the defending champion.
Playing in the quarter-finals in Vienna
Medvedev will then play in the quarter-finals in Vienna, where the winner of the match between the sixth-seeded Italian Yannick Sener and the unseeded Argentine Francisco Cerondolo will meet.
Elsewhere in the Vienna Open (also known as the Erste Bank Open), there was the disappointment of Russian fourth seed Andrei Rublev, who was defeated by Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday, 3-6, 4-6.
Medvedev and Rublev both aim to secure a place in the eight-man singles tournament at the ATP Finals in Turin next month.
Before that, the ATP Paris Masters 1000 is presented in the French capital in late October - early November with a prestigious award and important ranking points.
Medvedev is the previous winner of this title, having triumphed in Paris in 2020.
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