Dominic Thiem lost in two sets to Fernando Verdasco of Spain after a weak performance in the last sixteen of the ATP 1000 tournament in Paris-Bércy.
His Spanish opponent presented himself in impressive form in the previous rounds. With victories over Andrey Rublev and Kevin Anderson, the left-handed man played himself into a frenzy and let his emotions run wild. Thiem, on the other hand, had to fight hard against Peter Gojowczyk from Germany and won just under three sets.
The first two points in the last sixteen went to the backstroke player Verdasco, who immediately hit a breakpoint and presented himself wide awake. Thiem served well, however, and was able to pull himself out of the affair with a 214-kmh ace. The 24-year-old then acted too impetuously and produced too many mistakes. Verdasco consequently grabbed the break to the 3-2 lead. Thiems coach Günter Bresnik watched his protégé’s performance with alarming expressions of concern, as he moved poorly on the return and was unable to match his Spanish opponent’s service games. After 38 minutes, Verdasco served themselves to win the set 6:4.
Right at the beginning of the set, the seventh number in the world faced a break point that Verdasco could not use. The Lichtenwörther did not only not show himself physically on a good level; also mentally, Thiem argued with himself and shouted loudly about his own mistakes. The scattering of Thiems strokes was enormous and the forehand flew far behind the baseline again and again. By the middle of the second set, it had put 19 avoidable mistakes on the forehand of the 24-year-old. Verdasco, on the other hand, remained focused and turned his first match point into a 6:4 and 6:4 after 82 minutes.
For the troubled Austrian, it is now time to concentrate on the ATP Finals in London. For the second time in a row, Thiem has qualified for the O2 Arena tournament and will be battling it out with the top eight players of the season – weaknesses will be punished immediately.
The single panel in Paris-Bércy