2024-04-04 14:33:20
At the ATP 250 tournament in Portugal, Austria’s number two ends in the round of 16.
After his recent uninspiring appearances at the ATP Challenger level, Dominic Thiem showed a noticeable improvement in form this week when he returned to the ATP tour. With a 6:1, 6:7 (3), 6:4 over the German left-hander Maximilian Marterer (ATP 97), the 30-year-old reached the round of 16 at the Millennium Estoril Open on Easter Monday. However, the Lower Austrian had a somewhat unfortunate end there on Thursday followingnoon. In a duel between former number three and former number seven in the world, Thiem (ATP 91) had to narrowly defeat 37-year-old Frenchman Richard Gasquet (ATP 122) 4:6, 6:7 (6 ) give up. He was unable to defend last year’s quarterfinal at the ATP 250 clay court event near Portugal’s capital Lisbon and will therefore fall slightly back in the world rankings, but remain in the top 100. Next week he has planned to start at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo.
Thiem went into his sixth match with Gasquet with a 3-2 record, although he had won the last three duels. His opponent had only slipped into the main competition as a lucky loser for the canceled Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who was originally fourth seed, had inherited his bye and thus entered the second round directly. There, however, the old master showed off his class and routine once more: With a break to make it 2-1, Gasquet subsequently won the first set. In the second section, Thiem successfully defended himself once morest the impending defeat several times, immediately made up for a loss of serve in the first game, fended off two break chances at 4:4 – and even turned a 2:4 into a 6:4 in the tiebreak. But he missed the first set point with a return error, the second following an unfortunate defensive shot from Gasquet, who Thiem was currently attacking. Two points later the match was over.
Narrow exit for Rodionov too
In addition to Thiem, Jurij Rodionov also competed in the main competition in Estoril. The first round encounter between the Lower Austrian (ATP 112) and the former world number 17. Christian Garin was stopped on Monday evening when the score was 6:7 (3), 5:4 and 30:30 at the Chilean’s service and might only be finished on Wednesday due to the weather. At the time of the abandonment, only two points separated the 24-year-old from a third set, but he was unable to win the game until the score was 5:7.
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#Unfortunate #Thiem #master #Gasquet
