Last Updated on October 31, 2021
Dominic Thiem‘s worst nightmare has materialized. The Austrian tennis player, a two-time finalist at Roland Garros (in 2018-2019), got two sets back from the Spaniard Pablo Andujar and ended up succumbing in the fifth after a tremendous battle on the Philippe Chatrier.
VAMOS! He’s done it.
🇪🇸 @AndujarPablo overcomes a two-set deficit to upset No.4 seed Dominic Thiem 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, handing the two-time finalist his first opening round loss in eight trips to #RolandGarros. pic.twitter.com/i1tsBUNstF
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2021
The fact that the number 4 seed was not in great shape was already understood in the weeks leading up to the Parisian Slam, but it was frankly complicated to imagine such a disaster. Nicolas Massu’s pupil, who had taken a break to recharge his batteries, is also dealing with a knee problem that certainly doesn’t help his path to recovery.
In the press conference, Thiem did not hide and expressed all his concerns.
Dominic Thiem has no explanation for his crisis
“It’s very difficult to accept to be already out of Roland Garros, it’s a defeat that has a strange taste for me.
Dominic Thiem
It also shows that not everyone is like the Big 3 (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic), who never lose at the beginning of major tournaments. I won a Slam tournament fairly recently and I think I’m still in the learning process after such a great result.
I hope to bounce back and come back stronger than before, but I honestly don’t know when that moment will come” – confessed a really down to earth Thiem in front of journalists’ pressing questions.
Dominic deepened the question about his game: “The problem was not motivational, I simply lacked my tennis. It’s as if all my shots lacked power, I wasn’t precise enough in the directions and my mobility was far from the usual level.
I’m in really bad shape and I don’t even understand why. Two months have passed since I came back to training, in Madrid and Rome I had given signs of progress, but then I went back again in Lyon and here in Paris.
I’m facing a totally new situation, up to now my career had always been upwards. I had never gone through a crisis like this or lost a match like today, it’s rare for me to suffer a comeback from two sets to zero.
In the fifth set I even had a ball to go up 3-1, but I don’t think I did enough to bring it home. It was a complete disaster.” We’ll see if the Austrian is able to regain a bit of confidence going into the grass season.
Pablo Andujar vs Dominic Thiem – Round 1 Highlights | Roland-Garros 2021
