Dominic Thiem had to give up injured against Pablo Cuevas at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells. In the first round, the world’s sixth number had been knocked over.
A bitter day for Austria’s number one in the Californian desert. The duel against Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas did not start badly for Lichtenwörther.
With Cuevas on the other side, Thiem had to work aggressively and concentrated and found the game to be good. Both players acted focused and used their strong one-handed backhand again and again. This plan worked better at the end of the opening set at Lichtenwörther and so Thiem took the lead 6:4.
Nevertheless, the final game in the first round should have serious consequences for the number five seeded Lower Austrian. Thiem bent his right ankle and bit his teeth.
Thiem was then treated by the physiotherapist and tried to concentrate on the match. His opponent did not let himself be distracted by the injury break and put Thiem under strong pressure. Finally Cuevas snatched the second round with 6:3 and equalled against a drawn and visibly beaten Thiem.
The decisive round should then only be six games long. Thiem broke 2-4 and decided to give up. Cuevas will then face either Tomas Berdych or Hyeon Chung in the round of sixteen.
Whether Thiem can compete in the second act of the “Sunshine Doubles” in Miami is still uncertain. Further investigations and an official statement are still pending.
The men’s single panel in Indian Wells