‘Nerves are toxic’ Dominic Thiem reflects on ‘painful’ defeat
Former world three Dominic Thiem is still looking for his first win on the ATP tour since his return from injury as he was dumped out of the French Open in the first round.
The 2020 US Open champion, who was playing in his first Grand Slam since last year’s French Open, was brushed aside by world number 90 Hugo Dellien in straight sets.
The Bolivian dismantled Thiem and cruised to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
The defeat means that Dominic Thiem has lost his past seven matches since returning from the wrist injury which he sustained back in June 2021.
The Austrian looked like a shadow of the player who reached back-to-back French Open finals in 2018 and 2019, with his forehand in particular causing the 28-year-old significant problems.
26 of Thiem’s 38 unforced errors came off his forehand side, with the former world number three being unable to muster a single break point against his opponent from Bolivia.
Reflecting on his performance, Thiem admitted he was “disappointed” and that nerves got the better of his forehand.
Speaking post-match, the world number 194 told reporters, “There are painful defeats week after week and though not unexpected I am very disappointed.
“I have zero physical issues. I also have no mental problems with the forehand, I’m not scared or anything.
“The problem is that in practice, the forehand was really decent but then the match situation is something different, especially at a Grand Slam.
“The whole body gets more tight, gets more nervous and right now that’s toxic to my forehand because I’m still missing the fine feeling there.
“If that’s the case, many, many mistakes are happening.”
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