It took an extra day, but Dominic Thiem earned a spot in the French Open third round. After darkness interrupted his showdown against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Thiem return to prevail 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4–requiring a total of two hours and 40 minutes across two days to get across the finish line.
“Yeah, it was a very good match, I think,” the world No. 8 assessed. “The key was, for sure, that I went home yesterday with a one-set lead. It was really important. The first set today was very, very good tennis from me; very focused and everything.”
That has not always been the case this spring, but Thiem regained his form by capturing a title last week in Lyon. With momentum in hand, the Austrian has looked good in Paris through two rounds against Ilya Ivashka and Tsitsipas.
“Really good tournament (in Lyon); victory last week was great for my confidence,” he said. “And then the first match here was good. Tsitsipas was for sure one of the toughest second-round opponents possible here, and I did it in four sets. It was overall a very good match, so my shape is great and I’m ready for everything that’s coming up.”
Highlights:
Neither Thiem nor Lucas Pouille will have a day off prior to upcoming third-round action, as Pouille also needed to come back out and finish his second-rounder. That is exactly what the Frenchman did, taking the fourth set against Cameron Norrie to close out the British lefty 6-2, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(3).
“Physically it doesn’t disrupt much,” Pouille said of the postponement. “I didn’t play two-and-a-half hours today. And during training, I would have played for an hour (today). It’s just from the point of view of your nerves, because you have an extra tension. The stress builds up day after day, and that’s what makes a difference. But physically, it wouldn’t change much, because had I finished yesterday, I would have played at least an hour today.”
Next up for Pouille is Karen Khachanov, while Thiem will go up against Matteo Berrettini on Friday.
[polldaddy poll=10019404]
good job, Thiem