Tennis: Thiem lost a five-set thriller and was eliminated in Melbourne

The 30-year-old from Lower Austria improved a lot after a weak start against Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN-27) and forced a fifth set against the world number 30 after a 3:6.5:7 deficit. After 4:59 hours, the Canadian, who was seven years younger, won, Thiem lost 3:6.5:7.7:6(5),7:5,3:6. The hoped-for upswing in the new year, especially at the major level, where a lot of points are at stake, has not materialized for Thiem. Three years ago he was in the round of 16 in Melbourne and four years ago in the final. But since the French Open 2021, he has only survived a round in eight majors in a row at the US Open last year.

There was a brief excitement for Thiem on the pitch before the match started because the supervisor had him repack his branded drinking bottles. Of course, advertising is not allowed. Things didn’t go as planned for the Lower Austrian in the match either. The serve went up to 4:3, but Thiem also made mistakes, which was later shown in the set balance winner to unforced errors (6:8). Auger-Aliassime used the second break point of this match in the eighth game to make it 5:3 and then deservedly served with an ace to take the lead in the set after 45 minutes.

Unsettled and haphazard

Thiem seemed unsettled. In the third game of the second round, the former world number three had to give up his serve to make it 1-2 after many mistakes. The former US Open winner seemed haphazard and his footwork was also far from his best. At that point, Auger-Aliassime surprisingly gave up the serve to make it 2-2 and Thiem found his way into the game a little better.

But Thiem, who was far too inconsistent, simply made too many mistakes, couldn’t rely on his forehand and didn’t really show any tactics. When he had to give up his serve at 5:5 and 40:0 to make it 5:6, the preliminary decision seemed to have been made. After almost two hours, the Canadian took the set lead 2-0 with 7:5.

In the third round, Thiem managed the required six serve wins to make it 6:5 and Auger-Aliassime, who had previously missed the only break chance at 5:4, had to serve against losing the set. He managed to keep a clean sheet and it went into a tiebreak after three hours. Thiem took a 2-0 lead in this one. But when Auger-Aliassime made it 5-2 with five points, Thiem was two points away from elimination. But a double fault and two forehand errors by the North American brought Thiem the set and not Auger-Aliassime the match point. And Thiem actually managed to save himself in the fourth set after 3:11 hours.

Surprising transformation

He consolidated better and better and also looked better and more consistent in the rallies. It was a transformation like in the classic film “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Thiem was unrecognizable. An indication that a lot of things happen in Thiem’s ​​head. He immediately managed a break, which he confirmed to make it 2-0. As a result, Thiem served, among other things, three times to zero and was clearly on course for the fifth set. At 5:4, Thiem had to accept the rebreak somewhat surprisingly, but managed the break again to make it 6:5. After 4:14 hours, Thiem served his way into the fifth set.

But in this one the match tipped over again. Thiem missed two break points and had to give up his first serve game after two double faults to make it 0-2. Auger-Aliassime improved to the same extent and the Canadian made it 4:1 after 4:41 hours. The Canadian didn’t let himself be pushed off the winning path after that; Thiem had to congratulate his opponent at 1:40 a.m. local time.