The 28-year-old had to bow to 20-year-old Briton Scott Draper after 1:20 hours 1:6.4:6 on hard court on Wednesday (local time). The US Open, which he won two years ago, is now waiting for the ailing Lichtenwörther.
Thiem had no chance in the first set, after 9 minutes it was 0: 3, after 18 it was already 0: 5. The 0: 6 fate on Tuesday, when Thiem clearly lost the first set to the top seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, was narrowly spared. He made the game 1:5 and started the second round with a serve. When Thiem was 2-1, there was an interruption in which he was treated on the ear. Most recently, he had been out of action for a week because of a respiratory infection with a cold and cough, and didn’t make a very fit impression on Wednesday.
Especially in the hard-fought fifth game, Thiem showed his class and also made it 3: 2. However, he remained error-prone and far from his old strength, but initially prevented another break from the tall Draper, number 55 in the world. At 4: 4 Thiem gave up his service, Draper converted his first match point on his own serve. Thiem didn’t have his own break chance throughout the game.
Source: Nachrichten
