Dominic Thiem’s farewell to Roland Garros will wait. Forced to go through qualifying for his last appearance at Porte d’Auteuil, before retiring from the circuit at the end of the year, the Austrian, now 131st in the world – after climbing to third place at his best ranking in 2020 -, successfully entered the running on Monday.
On the Suzanne-Lenglen court, used for the first time in the qualifiers, the double finalist of the Parisian Grand Slam in 2018 and 2019, overthrew the Italian Franco Agamenone (3-6, 6-3, 6-2), 228th. at the ATP and only one participation in the big draw to his credit, in 2022. In the next round, Thiem will face the Finn Otto Virtanen, 156th in the world and looking for a first presence in the final draw.
Quickly trailing 3-0, the winner of the 2020 US Open put in a good set before getting the machine going, in the head and in the legs. Pushed by the public, who had almost filled the aisles of the Suzanne-Lenglen to attend his possible final match in Paris, Thiem found fluidity in his movements, power in his strikes and inspiration in his shots once again. once the first round is over. Over the course of the games, he gained the upper hand, offering a few legendary points along the way, never to let go, even sending smashes full of anger as if to free himself for good.
Thiem reversed the dynamic
His break at the start of the third set, on a poorly judged return by Agamenone, who threw his racket twice on the clay court in rage, ended up reversing the dynamic in favor of the Austrian. The latter was certainly more irregular in the last round, but he was still more solid than the Italian, who nevertheless offered himself the point of the match with a “tweener” to pass Thiem, thumbs up to greet the gesture of his opponent.
After saving two break points in the last game, Thiem concluded the deal in 2h19, with one of his angry smashes, with a kiss for the public as a thank you. But no goodbye yet.
