Dominic Thiem fails in Tokyo right at the start: The Austrian number one is defeated by Steve Johnson from the USA in three sets with 6:4,6:7 (5) and 4:6.
Thiem avoided a false start, fought off an American break point with an ace in the first serve game.In the fifth game, Thiem got Johnson in trouble for the first time, scoring a good attack to break the 3-2.In this phase, the Lower Austrian dominated mainly with his forehand and convinced with solid returns.After 37 minutes Johnson put a forehand ball in the net, Thiem took the lead 6:4.
Thiem will be supervised by Joakim Nyström on the Asian tour, Physio Alex Stober is always there anyway.In Tokyo, double specialist Philipp Petzschner also sat down in the Austrian’s box on Tuesday.
In the second round it was Johnson who got the early advantage – Thiem was able to defend two break points, the third one got stuck on the wrong side of the net from the Austrian’s point of view.The number two of the tournament, however, immediately struck back, cutting back to 1:2 with a break.Afterwards, both players more or less certainly made their serves, at 5:6 Thiem gave his opponent a set ball with a double error, which Hawkeye corrected.The 24-year-old made a forehand mistake, but then played himself dominantly in the tiebreak.The US-American scored 7:5, which was the decisive factor for a direct return point to 6:4.
Thiem came under pressure at an early stage in the decision, but was able to fend off three break points.At 2:3 he lost his serve and, despite two equalization chances, he did not return.Ultimately Thiem gave up the match because he acted too erroneously.Especially the scattering on the backhand side cost him victory.
Dominic Thiem had won the previous two matches with Johnson: 2014 in Nice and a few months ago at the French Open.Ashes on both of them.The US American’s opponent in the last sixteen will not be determined until Wednesday: Shenzhen finalist Alexandr Dolgopolov will meet the Russian Daniil Medvedev.
Here is the single panel in Tokyo