Thiem Toughs Out Dramatic Kitzbuehel Victory
Let's not call it a resurgence, but Dominic Thiem took another important step towards rebuilding his career at the Generali Open Tuesday.
Cheered on by a raucous home crowd, the 2020 US Open champion survived the first round for the third consecutive tour-level event and claimed his 10th match win of the year with a dramatic 7-6(3), 7-6(6) win in two hours and 22 minutes over Argentine Facundo Bagnis.
It may sound like a modest milestone for a Grand Slam champion, but the Austrian is taking nothing for granted in 2023 after losing nine of the first 10 matches he played this season.
The 2019 Kitzbuehel champion and 2014 finalist staved off five set points on serve in the 10th game of the opening set and another two set points in the second-set tie-break.
Thiem, who served 10 aces, trailed 2-4 before a lengthy rain delay interrupted the match. He immediately broke back when the match resumed and played an aggressive brand of tennis to push on to victory.
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“It was another great, great night here in Kitzbuehel,” Thiem said on court after the match. “It’s the third time I kicked off the tournament with a night session and all three of them have been legendary. It was not easy with the rain delay but it was an amazing atmosphere with everyone staying. I’m so happy I am through to the second round.
“In the first set when we came back from the rain delay I played a very good level and he kept it up, so it was an even match. I played offensively and finished many points at the net. “
Thiem, who two weeks ago reached the second round in Gstaad, repeated his win over Bagnis in the first round of Umag last week.
Thiem lost nine of his first 10 matches in 2023, and came into this tournament No. 116 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. He went 6-5 during the clay swing through Roland Garros but went winless during the grass swing, which included a valiant fifth-set tie-break loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round of Wimbledon.
Suffering a tear in his right wrist that forced him to miss nine months from June 2021-March 2022, Thiem is looking for his first title since claiming his lone major in New York in September 2020.
Eighth-seeded German Daniel Altmaier came up big when it mattered most to defeat Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-4 to reach the second round. The 2021 semi-finalist saved three of the four break points he faced and converted all four break chances on his opponent's serve to claim his 11th match win of the year.
Altmaier, who hits with a one-handed backhand like his childhood idols Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, also defeated Huesler in the first round of Roland Garros this year.
Altmaier will next face Colombian World No. 76 Daniel Elahi Galan.
Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild picked up his first tour-level win since Roland Garros (where he stunned Daniil Medvedev in the first round en route to the third round) when he defeated Austrian Dennis Novak 6-3, 6-4
The World No. 117 will next face Serbian Laslo Djere, who last week reached the final of the ATP 500 in Hamburg.
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