ATP: Tiebreak drama! Thiem failed in doubles after match balls due to Marach

After his first defeat at the ATP Masters in Rome, Dominic Thiem also retired in doubles. Together with his partner Steve Johnson, he was defeated by the reigning Australian Open champions Oliver Marach/Mate Pavic 6:0, 3:6, 14-16.

In the first set everything went for the avoidable outsiders. Thiem/Johnson took the serve off their opponents via the deciding point, but just managed to get their own service games through.

Only in the second set did Marach and Pavic, who had to take a break in the last weeks because of a rib he broke in training with Lukas Kubot, gradually gain momentum again. With a break to 4:2 they set off, another key point in the following service game they won at the start.

It went into a Champions Tiebreak, where first the number two of the Marach/Pavic tournament took a 5:2 lead. But the Austrian-American pairing on the other side of the net regained five points in a row and with it the momentum.

From 7:7 onwards, 14 points followed, which in turn were scored by the serving team. Thiem/Johnson missed three match points, while the double specialists secured victory with their fourth match point.

In the quarter-finals, they now face Pablo Cuevas (URU)/Marcel Granollers (ESP). This week in Rome Pavic has the opportunity to go down in history as the youngest world number one in the double ranking. He will have to go further than Kubot, who tops with Marcelo Melo and thus plays in the opposite half of the tournament.