The Lower Austrian prevailed on Tuesday in the first round of the ATP clay court tournament in Gstaad against Frenchman Hugo Gaston after a weak start with 1: 6.6: 1.7: 6 (7) and gets it in the round of 16 on Wednesday (not before 17.30/live Sky) with Federico Delbonis from Argentina.
A few days after his performances in Baastad, where the 28-year-old US Open winner from 2020 celebrated his first two victories on the ATP tour after his comeback after a ten-month injury break, he had to work hard against number 59 in the world . “I had problems getting used to the conditions at the beginning,” explained Thiem with regard to the challenges in Gstaad, which, thanks to its location at around 1,000 m above sea level, brings a different ball behavior. “The balls fly much further, you have to move even more precisely, hit them even more precisely.”
“I improved in the second set, it was really tight then. That’s why I’m really happy about the win. Every win in such tight matches gives me back the calm that you need in tight situations,” said Thiem, who won one of his first tournaments on the tour in Gstaad in 2015. The direction is right. “It just keeps getting better. It’s definitely going in the right direction.” Emotionally, he felt transported back a few years. “It feels a bit like at the very beginning of my career, where every win at ATP level is very special.”
The game on Tuesday had the only duel between the two so far, a five-set match 2020 in Roland Garros Thiem decided to do nothing. The start on Center Court was extremely bad for the Lichtenwörther, or rather it didn’t really start at all. Less than half an hour after the start, Gaston, champion of drop shots, sat down as the 6-1 set winner and seemed to make short work of it.
But the picture changed in the second set in mirror image. Thiems Strikes, especially the forehand, became more precise, his serve radiated danger, he didn’t allow a single breakball and also won the second round 6:1. Now a close fight ensued for the first time, which consequently led the opponents to a tie-break. There, too, it was a back and forth. Missed the first match ball at 6:5 Thiem still, fended off one at 6:7, but finally closed the sack after exactly two hours.
Source: Nachrichten
