Dominic Thiem just can’t find his way. Austria’s tennis star, who has meanwhile slipped to 194th place in the world rankings, lost yesterday at the ATP clay court tournament in Geneva to opening opponent Marco Cecchinato (Ita) 3: 6, 4: 6. Even on the sixth attempt, the Lower Austrian was denied the mentally important first win after 280 days of injury time-out. The 28-year-old spoke of a “big puzzle” before the game. A few days before the French Open, which begins on Sunday, its parts still don’t want to fit together. Some strong baseline shots alternated with avoidable mistakes. Thiem is the only Austrian set for the highlight in Paris.
In the ongoing qualification, Sebastian Ofner moved into round two yesterday 6: 4, 6: 4 over Jay Clarke (Gbr), while Dennis Novak lost to Italian Lorenzo Giustino 5: 7, 6: 7 (4). Gael Monfils (injured) and Andy Murray (preparing for Wimbledon) withdrew.
Double joy for Djokovic
Novak Djokovic returned to winning ways 6-0, 7-6 in the final of the ATP 1000 tournament in Rome over Stefanos Tsitsipas and the first title this year. The world number one saw the fuss about his refused Covid vaccination at the beginning of the year as motivation. “I try to use these situations and adversities as an impetus for the next challenges,” said the Serb, who celebrates his 35th birthday on Sunday. “As many times as I’ve felt pressure in my life and in my career, it was a whole different level,” he recalled of the expulsion from Australia. When asked about his favorite for the second Grand Slam tournament of the year in Paris, the defeated Tsitsipas replied: “Currently: Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic.”
Djokovic had another reason to be happy on Sunday: his seven-year-old son Stefan had won his first tennis tournament on the same day. “The journey has started successfully, my son won a tournament today. A sunshine double,” said the “Djoker”.
Source: Nachrichten
