Dominic Thiem must finish his second round match at the French Open 2018 against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Thursday: The game was broken off at 6:2. 2:6 and 6:4 from the Austrian’s point of view because of darkness.
By Jens Huiber from Paris
After a four-hour tennis battle, the real tennis fan is still far from having enough – and simply keeps his seat. Many of those who had hoped after the marathon between Grigor Dimitrov and Jared Donaldson that the grandstands of Court 18 would empty had to stay outside disappointed at first, Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas could not watch at work.
On the other hand, there is always a place for Patrick Mouratoglou. The star coach, TV expert, academy operator mingled with the audience in the middle of the first set. That was when Thiem had already set the first exclamation point: With a break in the first service game of the Greek, which seemed a little “tight”.
Dominic Thiem, on the other hand, is an old hand in Paris; he was among the last four in each of the last two editions. Until 5:2 the Austrian had no problems, then Thiem wobbled for the first time on serve. After 40 minutes and an exquisite serve and volley combination, it was still 6:2 for the favourite.
Thiem had lost the last of three matches in Barcelona in two sets. As the match in Roland Garros continued, it became clear why. Reading Tsitsipas´ game is not easy. Anyone who does not put the 19-year-old under constant pressure quickly gets into predicament himself.
In any case, Tsitsipas started the second round more solidly, took advantage of a break chance to the 3:1. coach Moouratglou had already retired at this time, Kristina Mladenovic in the Thiem-Box between Günter Bresnik and Physio Alex Stober took her place.
Thiem could not make a comeback any more, after 75 minutes Tsitsipas had balanced, shortly before half past eight o’clock local time. Dark clouds had shifted over the course, but the players still went to the court for the third act.
Thiem missed three break chances in the first game, also because Tsitsipas became more and more offensive, now even after good serves he was looking for the way to the net. The finalist from Barcelona also had a chance, but now Thiem defended it emphatically. In the ninth game Thiem finally managed once again to set a real accent – even Günter Bresnik jumped up to 5:4 after the break point.
After the 24-year-old Lichtenwörther had ditched the set after 2:07 hours, however, referee Damien Dumusois ended the first part of the Thiem-Tsitsipas affair. To be continued tomorrow.
Matches over two days are not new for Dominic Thiem: Just last week in Lyon his match against Guillermo Garcia Lopez had to be abandoned. The Austrian won the continuation, and finally the whole tournament.