Thiem also loses in Miami in round one

The 29-year-old from Lower Austria lost out to Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6:7(7),2:6 at the ATP1000 tournament in Miami on Thursday and thus suffered his fourth first-round defeat in a row. The ÖTV actor, who was represented in the main competition thanks to a wildcard, had previously failed at the opening hurdle in Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile and most recently Indian Wells.

Of ten matches of the season, Thiem was only able to win that in the first Buenos Aires round against Slovakian Alex Molcan. Against the world number 59. Sonego lost to the four-time major finalist, who recovered from a stubborn wrist injury, at the third attempt for the second time. Sonego now has to deal with the 23rd placed Briton Daniel Evans. In all likelihood, Thiem will continue at the 250 event in Estoril from April 3rd, which was last planned as the start of the sand season.

“concentration hole”

“It was a tight first sentence,” Thiem summed up. After losing the same – after a set ball for Thiem – “I lose the tension for a very short time, then I’m 4-0 behind, and only then do I manage to get back into the game – the holes are just not good” , said the ÖTV player self-critically. “The slight loss of concentration or the slight drop in tension were also the reason why I lost the second set.”

“Of course, there is also a bit of a lack of self-confidence and I have to make sure that I get that back,” said Thiem. He is considering going back to the Challenger Tour for “a week or two” after Estoril, “just to maybe get a few victories there”. He currently has no ranking for the Grandslam tournament in Paris either, maybe he could get this ranking on the Challenger Tour with a few victories.

In the ranking, the US Open winner of 2020 will remain outside the top 100 for the time being, he is currently in 106th place.