via Reuters
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 8, 2021 Austria’s Dominic Thiem reacts during his first round match against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin REUTERS/Kelly Defina
via Reuters
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 8, 2021 Austria’s Dominic Thiem reacts during his first round match against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin REUTERS/Kelly Defina
World number four Dominic Thiem, who is struggling to find form ever since winning his first grand slam title at the US Open last year, had faced yet another shock defeat in the hands of Cameron Norrie in his first match at the on-going Lyon Open.
Thiem wasn’t able to find his range throughout the match. On the other hand, Norrie exposed the Austrian’s serve weakness and started returning more often. Also, Thiem made quite a few errors from both forehand and backhand wings.
via Reuters
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 14, 2021 Austria’s Dominic Thiem in action during his fourth round match against Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
Also read: “Definitely Not Fit Enough”: Dominic Thiem Ruled Out From Clay-Court Season in April
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Dominic Thiem suffered a disappointing loss against Cameron Norrie at Lyon Open
The Brit was able to flow through his service games with the help of serve and volley. He also used drop shots to good effect. But, it was the Austrian who gave away the match through unforced errors.
Even though Thiem tried his way at the net, it didn’t work out as Norrie was able to find a lot of passing winners throughout the match.
Speaking about his performance post-match, the Austrian expressed disappointment with the way he approached today’s match.
“It’s just a huge step back, I was hoping to take the little positive signs from Madrid and Rome here, but didn’t work out. I have to analyze now and look now at Roland-Garros”, Thiem said.
Thiem: "It's just a huge step back, I was hoping to take the little positive signs from Madrid and Rome here, but didn't work out. I have to analyze now and look now at Roland-Garros."
Says will not ask for wild card for Belgrade.
— Chris Oddo (@TheFanChild) May 20, 2021
It has been a disappointing clay-court season for Dominic Thiem so far. As he is known to be a specialist on the red-dirt, his performances at Madrid and Rome were indicative of an improvement to his overall game.
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Along with Roger Federer, Thiem will be heading into the French Open with least expectations. Both these players will be testing their luck in Paris as Nadal and Djokovic will enter the tournament as hot-favorites to win the title.
The Austrian also mentioned that he will not be be asking for a wildcard for the second clay-court event at Belgrade, Serbia. The tournament starts from 22nd of May.
With back-to-back losses, there will be dent in Thiem’s confidence heading to Roland Garros. As the Austrian is not in top-form, players like Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas can prove their mettle and go deep in Paris this year.
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Also read: “Shouldn’t Come Back Until It Makes Sense”: Dominic Thiem Opens Up on Sabbatical From Tennis
