Thiem after five-set thriller against Tsitsipas: “Shows that I’m still here”

Nevertheless, the Lower Austrian went after 3:55 hours but finally as a 6:3.6:7(1),2:6.7:6(5),6:7(8) loser from the field. The game was on Tuesday with a set lead Thiems been adjourned due to rain.

“It was a great match, which I leave with my head held high. It showed me that I’m still here. The quality was very, very high, the fighting spirit was really, really good,” said Thiem at the press conference after his appearance. “This game showed me that I can still take on the big boys and it motivates me for the coming weeks.” Tsitsipas, who now meets the Scottish lawn master Andy Murray, scattered Thiem anyway roses. “Dominic is someone who gets the best out of me every time we play against each other,” he said immediately after the duel – the tenth of the two. Everyone has now won five times.

The approximately 27-hour interruption should be for Thiem initially as a disadvantage, for the fifth in the world rankings, however, as a small advantage. The 24-year-old, who has never made it past the third round at Wimbledon, showed a clear improvement from his point of view on Wednesday from the continuation at the score of 3: 6.4: 3. Because on Tuesday he had the difference too Thiem cannot prove. There was Thiem as number 91 in the world at his seventh appearance at Wimbledon, the first as a Grand Slam winner and in four years, the more convincing of the two players and had won the first round after 33 minutes.

The second set was quite balanced until the stop and after the continuation on Wednesday also led to the tie-break. There was Thiem with only one point gained, of course, in a lost position. And even if he took the setback relatively well, fending off five breakballs in the hard-fought third game of the third set, he had to give up his two following service games. The Greek won the set 6:2.

But the Wimbledon round of 16 from 2017 showed strong nerves, showed himself to be more self-confident and less prone to errors in the fourth round. The logical consequence was another tie-break, in which up to Thiems 3:2 was just as balanced. Then he even made it 4:2 with a mini-break and from the 6:3 in the third attempt he equalized in sentences to make it 2:2.

Made similarly strong Thiem continued in the final round, even the break to 4:3 seemed to be done. That was canceled again after a challenge from Tsitsipas, the Greek made it 4: 4 with a “stomach ache”. Thiem continued to impress with a varied game and strong shots from the baseline and headed for another tie-break. When the score was 5: 6, the 29-year-old gave his opponent the first match point with his first double fault, only to fend it off and actually force the tie-break. There Tsitsipas once again had to unpack his best tennis, earned more match balls at 9: 7 and was rewarded for it.