French Open 2021: shock! Dominic Thiem loses against Pablo Andujar in five sets
Dominic Thiem was surprisingly eliminated in the first round of the French Open 2021. The Austrian lost to Pablo Andujar 6: 4, 7: 5, 3: 6, 4: 6 and 4: 6.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: May 30, 2021, 05:58 pm
Here you can read the match in the live ticker!
Shock for Dominic Thiem. Austria's number one gave up a 2-0 set lead in his opening game at the French Open 2021 against Pablo Andujar, losing 6: 4, 7: 5, 3: 6, 4: 6 and 4: 6.
In the past few weeks, which were not characterized by great success, Thiem had often got off to a slow start. Not so with his first appearance in Roland Garros in 2021. The Austrian got the break to 1: 0, served to 6: 4 without any problems, yes, could have won the set even more clearly. In the second round, Thiem managed the break to 4: 3, but he failed to serve it at 5: 4. For a few moments, Dominic Thiem had regained the advantage. And the second attempt sat, Thiem won the second act with 7: 5.
Which was not good news for Pablo Andujar in that the Spaniard has never been able to make up a two-set deficit in his long, injury-ridden career. And, moreover, hadn't won a single set against Thiem. Both were to change on this Sunday afternoon in Paris.
Thiem versus Delbonis or Albot
The conditions on the Philippe-Chatrier Court were not easy: the gusty wind made both players difficult. Also in the third set, in which Thiem found the first break chance when the score was 2: 2. Andujar surprised his opponent by unpacking a serve-and-volley variant for the first time. And the Spaniard added in the eighth game, got the 5: 3 on serve Thiem. He had an immediate chance of a comeback, Andujar fended off. And with the 6: 3 earned his first set win against the fourth in the world rankings.
In the fourth round, Thiem missed a 15:40 lead on Andujar's serve with a score of 1-0. Instead, it was Thiem who subsequently gave his service to zero. The two-time finalist of the French Open (2018 and 2019) acted too incorrectly in this phase, signaling his helplessness in the direction of his box. This manifested itself in the second loss of service in the set, which Thiem supported with a massive double error and a backhand error to make it 1: 4. But Andujar was not flawless either, gave up his serve to make it 2: 4, Thiem came up again. After 3:37 hours of play, Thiem fended off Andujar's first chance to equalize the set. He nailed an ace into the field at Advantage Thiem. And after a forehand error by Thiem actually made a tie.
The decision started very unfavorably for Thiem - namely with a break for Andujar. The equalizer to 1: 1 was initiated with a spectacular blow behind the back of Thiem. He also had a chance to make it 3-1, instead Andujar took the lead again with a break to make it 3-2. That was enough for Andujar, who used his first match ball after 4:28 hours.
Here the single tableau in Roland Garros
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