Dominic Thiem’s court troubles continue in Paris
PARIS — It all used to come so easily for Dominic Thiem on a tennis court: his powerful forehand, his elegant backhand, his ability to calculate which shot to hit when. All of those abilities were fine-tuned to the point of a title at the U.S. Open and three other Grand Slam final appearances.
Nowadays, even though the pain from a torn tendon in his right wrist incurred last year is no longer there, the strokes and, most disconcertingly, the wherewithal, are not what they once were — to the extent that his firstround exit Sunday at the French Open was his 10th consecutive loss.
The situation has become dire enough that Thiem, a 28-year-old Austrian once ranked No. 3 but now No. 194, acknowledged after being beaten 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 by Hugo Dellien that perhaps it’s time for him to head to the lower-level Challenger Tour to get a win and gain some confidence.
After lamenting his forehand, his backhand and a first-serve percentage that was too low, Thiem got to the bigger problem: “Sometimes, I do really stupid decisions during the rally, drop shots or down-the-line (groundstrokes) at the wrong moment. Match situations, I’m not playing well. … Then, for example, there was one game today where I did four or five forehand return mistakes in a row, where I’m thinking, ‘What the heck is happening?’”
Thiem was the runner-up to Rafael Nadal in Paris in 2018 and 2019, and to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in 2020, but his most recent victory came in May 2021.
Dellien, a 28-year-old Bolivian ranked 87th, entered his contest against Thiem with a 2-7 career record in Grand Slam matches. But from the start, he was able to hold his own in lengthy baseline exchanges.
On the very first point, which lasted 24 strokes, Thiem landed a backhand passing shot in the net and shook his head. On the next, he tried a drop shot that floated wide — not really close at all. Again, a head shake. On the sixth point, a forehand return sailed well long. That initial set ended with Thiem putting a forehand into the net, followed by a backhand into the net.
“Today, he wasn’t at his top level of the past, but I still needed to beat him,” Dellien said. “It’s an important step in my career.”
Thiem’s quick departure was not the only noteworthy development on a cloudy, occasionally drizzly first day at the year’s second major tennis tournament, which welcomed back pre-pandemic sights and sounds of full attendance and no masks in the stands.
“Happy to have the fans back,” said John Isner, an American seeded 23rd who won 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (6) against France’s Quentin Halys. “I think they showed up very well today — I mean, not just on my court. I could hear roars going around the grounds,” he said. “Fans are very passionate here, and the players appreciate that.”