The narrow defeat against Thiago Monteiro in the first round of the ATP World Tour 500 event in Rio de Janeiro Dominic Thiem don’t lose your calm. Step by step it should go back up.
by Stefan Bergman
last edited: 02/21/2023, 1:33 p.m
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It was another bitter moment for all Austrian tennis fans who had been glued to the TV until 2:00 a.m. to watch Dominic Thiem’s second match success of the current season. Because of course it didn’t come to anything, in the end the self-sacrificing local hero Thiago Monteiro cheered, who after a sometimes brutal 2:46 hours in the tie-break of the third round was able to clearly prevail 7:2.
Incidentally, the 6: 1, 3: 6, 7: 6 (2) success of the 28-year-old from Fortaleza was his first game won this year – so you can see yesterday’s clash between Thiem and Monteiro as a duel of the currently denote form-seekers, in that the Brazilian had the more compelling move to win the final point towards the end. The world number 83. was therefore delighted in the on-court interview immediately after the match: “In the tie-break, I think I played very solidly and I’m glad that I was able to celebrate my first win.”
Next week, next chance
It should also be added that Monteiro pointed out right at the beginning of the conversation that the 29-year-old from Lichtenwörther is obviously not in the condition in which he was able to win the US Open two and a half years ago. And the Austrian sees it that way himself, who describes his performance as better than in Buenos Aires, but he still makes too many mistakes: “I have to find the right timing and get closer to the baseline.”
Austria’s number one would also like to change his mindset: “It is what it is. I don’t let myself be stressed. I have the feeling that I have defined myself by results for far too long.” That is very unhealthy, especially mentally. That’s why the motto is now: next week, next chance.
Final conviction is still missing
The weak start of the game is particularly annoying for the former third in the world rankings – a pattern that accompanies the Lower Austrian throughout his active career, but took on striking proportions in yesterday’s 27-minute opening sentence: “Of course I got off to a bad start, I’m not really got along at the beginning”. In the phases where break opportunities would arise, the last conviction is still missing.
Freely after Thiem, we look ahead: Tuesday evening (second game after 8:30 p.m. CET) Austria’s tennis figurehead of recent years meets the Spaniard Pedro Martinez in the first round of the doubles competition against the Mexican-Argentinian duo Francisco Cabal / Horacio Zeballos (on four set). And no matter what happens in the duet in Rio, the 2019 winner of Kitzbühel and Vienna will be in action at the clay court tournament in Santiago de Chile from next Monday – true to the motto: next week, next chance.
Here the single tableau from Rio de Janeiro.
Here the double tableau from Rio de Janeiro.
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