Dominic Thiem sinks to seventh loss since comeback, repeats Roland Garros woes
Dominic Thiem has relived an unwanted Roland Garros memory as for the second year running he is out of Paris in the first round.
This time around world number 87 Hugo Dellien followed in the footsteps of Pablo Andujar’s comeback victory over the Austrian last year.
But the Bolivian made short work of Thiem compared to the Spaniard, downing the two-time Roland Garros finalist 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
He said after the victory: “This is the best win in my career, so it’s a very special day.”
Dellien then acknowledged Thiem’s tough predicament at the moment coming back from injury before encouraging the former world number three.
He said; “Dominic (Thiem) is such a good player, he’ll come back to a high level for sure.”
Thiem is yet to register a win since returning to competitive tennis at a Marbella Challenger back in late March.
Today’s loss marks his seventh in a row, all coming on historically perhaps his strongest surface of clay.
Who’s the man? 👉@hugo_dellien puts an end to Dominic Thiem’s campaign, sailing past the Austrian 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/931n5Z0NGb
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 22, 2022
Meanwhile, today was just a third ever Slam victory for Dellien and second at Roland Garros.
He reached the second round in Paris back in 2019 before losing to then 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Dellien was grateful to the French crowd, telling them: “Thank you very much and I hope to see you in the next round.”
The 28-year-old will take on either Portuguese qualifier Nuno Borges or 21st seed Karen Khachanov next for the right to play in the third round.
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