Dominic Thiem back with a bang as he draws inspiration from ‘amazing’ Madrid Open memories

ATP Tour
Dominic Thiem waving

For a player who has been out of action for more than a month, Dominic Thiem showed no signs of rust as he brushed aside Marcos Giron in his opening clash at the Madrid Open.

Playing in his first competitive match since March 16 after taking a break due to mental and physical exhaustion, the world No 4 required only 58 minutes to get the better of Giron, winning 6-1, 6-3 on Stadium Manolo Santana.

The Austrian broke twice in each set to set up a comfortable victory.

“I was uncertain how things will be going. The game worked out very well in the past days of practice, but I was always practising on the outside courts which are faster, which are smaller, so I was just not sure how it was going to be in the match,” Thiem said.

“But there were some things which I think made [the match] a little bit easier after such a long time, especially the conditions in Madrid, which are great for me.

“Then [I have] amazing memories on this court, where I already played probably some of the best matches of my career. I think that’s why things worked out quite well tonight.”

Up next is Alex de Minaur after the Australian advanced when South African Lloyd Harris retired while trailling 6-2, 3-0.

Andrey Rublev could await in the quarter-final as the sixth-seeded Russian secured his place in the third round with a tough win over Tommy Paul from the United States, winning 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4.

Eighth seed Matteo Berrettini won the battle of the Italians as he secured a solid 6-3, 6-4 win over Fabio Fognini.

In the top section Italian teenager Jannik Sinner advanced when Guido Pella retired with the score 6-2, 4-4 in the former’s favour while former world No 4 Kei Nishikori set up a second-round clash with Alexander Zverev with a 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-2 win over Karen Khachanov.

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Alex De Minaur Dominic Thiem Marcos Giron

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