Mannarino and Thiem come out on third-set tiebreak in Winston-Salem first round

Dominic Thiem couldn’t wait any longer. For his return to hard after nearly a year and a half without a match on the surface, the Austrian offered the American Jeffrey John (JJ) Wolf in three hung sets and more than three hours of combat, in the first round. of Winston-Salem (6-7 [5]7-5, 7-6 [6]).

However, everything had started badly for the winner of US Open 2020since despite a quality of service well above his recent standards in the first set (8 aces for 0 double faults), he had to race behind, capped in the tie-break by a resolutely offensive opponent, in particular by through his offset forehand.

If he was even forced to save a break point at the start of the second set to stay in the game, the 231st player in the world never gave up, continuing to keep up the pace in the exchange until taking advantage of a absence of the American during the twelfth and final game (7-5). In the third and final set, as in the previous round, Thiem had the break, at 4-2, before returning his advantage in the next game. Once the two men at the tie-break, JJ Wolf got two match points, magnificently saved by two winning shots from the double finalist at Roland-Garros (backhand then forehand), who then concluded with his first match point.

The latter thus offers his first victory on hard in almost 18 months and a success in the eighth in Doha against Aslan Karatsev in March 2021, and will face Grigor Dimitrov, seeded n ° 1, in the next round. Slowly but surely, the Austrian finds the back of the game and the sensations that were his in his prime. Although there is still work to be done.

Miraculous Mannarino

The only Habs engaged tonight, Adrian Mannarino went all out to get Christopher O’Connell out in three tie-breaks (7-6 [4]6-7 [3]7-6 [3]). If everyone dominated a decisive game without having lost their commitment during the first two rounds, the third gave rise to a much more incredible scenario.

While he had a break lead twice, even getting a match point at 5-4, the Frenchman lost this advantage and found himself having to save four match points at 6-5. Nervously strong despite his 48% of first serves served in the final round, “Manna” did not give up and forced a tie-break, which he easily won (7 points to 3). More than 3h30 of the match later, and despite his opponent’s 21 aces, here he is in the second round, where he will cross paths with Emil Ruusuvuori on Tuesday evening.