Dominic Thiem admits he was ‘over the limit’, but insists ‘I’m not sad with my performance at Roland Garros’

French Open
Dominic Thiem taking strain

Dominic Thiem revealed he had nothing left in his tank during his five-set defeat to Diego Schwartzman at the French Open, but says it “hurts a little bit less” losing to a close friend.

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Thiem as he won his maiden Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows on September 13, beating Alexander Zverev in five sets.

The Austrian didn’t play any tournaments in the build-up to Roland Garros and, after winning his first three matches in three sets, he was taken the distance by Hugo Gaston in the fourth round.

He admitted after the Gaston clash that he was running on empty and then Schwartzman took him to five sets too with the Argentine winning 7-6 (7-1), 5-7, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in just over five hours.

“I was over the limit today. If I would have won maybe I would have recovered,” he said. “Even though I’m physically and mentally on the edge, you never know in a Slam.

“In the end I gave everything I had out there. It was an amazing match. I think the first in my career over five hours. Diego fully deserves it.”

He added: “In general, I’m not sad with my performance here in Roland Garros.

“I mean, it was a pretty short time with the long trip home, jet lag, and everything. Then, of course, the first Slam, which is a special thing. Come here, play in pretty brutal conditions, I would say. I cannot say it was a bad tournament, I’m pretty happy about it.

“I think if I would have wanted to win that match, I should have done it in four. In the fifth set, he was just a little bit more fresh and better than me.”

However, losing against a good friend took some of the pain away.

“I’m happy for him. Maybe to lose against a friend hurts a little bit less, yeah,” the world No 3 said.

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