Australian Open 2024: Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Dominic Thiem preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (27) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Dominic Thiem
Tournament: Australian Open 2024
Round: First round (Round of 128)
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Hard (Outdoor)
Prize Money: A$86,500,000
Live telecast: USA - ESPN & Tennis Channel | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Sports & Sony Liv | Canada - TSN & RDS
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Dominic Thiem preview
Felix Auger-Aliassime will duke it out against 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem in the first round of the 2024 Australian Open.
While Auger-Aliassime was part of Canada's United Cup squad to start the new season, he didn't end up competing as much as he wanted to. As a precautionary measure due to an injury concern, he pulled out of his singles matches.
Auger-Aliassime played a lone mixed doubles match against Greece, which he lost. The Canadian then headed to Auckland for the ASB Classic. As one of the top seeds, he directly received a bye into the second round, where he faced Daniel Altmaier.
Auger-Aliassime had plenty of chances to gain the upper hand in the match but faltered in crucial moments. Altmaier, on the other hand, was more composed and inflicted a 7-6 (9), 7-5 defeat on the Canadian.
Thiem was relegated to the qualifying rounds in Brisbane due to his low ranking. He barely made it through as well and needed three sets to get past James Mccabe and Giulio Zeppieri to make the main draw.
Thiem's first-round opponent ended up being Rafael Nadal, who was making his comeback. The Austrian put up a fight in the first set but came up short. His resistance crumbled in the next set as he slumped to a 7-5, 6-1 loss.
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Dominic Thiem head-to-head
Thiem leads Auger-Aliassime 1-0 in the head-to-head. He won their previous encounter at the 2020 US Open in straight sets.
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Dominic Thiem odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Dominic Thiem prediction
Both have their own set of issues to deal with heading into this contest. While Thiem is low on form, Auger-Aliassime might not be fully fit. The Austrian got schooled by Nadal, who was playing his first match in over a year, during their Brisbane clash.
Thiem also struggled against lower-ranked opponents in the Brisbane qualifiers. Auger-Aliassime had his chances against Altmaier in Auckland, but going 1/9 on break points was always going to cost him in the end.
Thiem outplayed Auger-Aliassime en route to winning the US Open in 2020, but the former's level has dipped considerably since then. The Canadian's fortunes improved over the years, though he hit a rough patch in 2023.
Given Thiem's rather poor form, Auger-Aliassime will be favored to make it through this clash. However, the latter isn't the outright favorite given his struggles in the past year, but he's still playing marginally better than Thiem.
Pick: Felix Auger-Aliassime to win in four sets.