Dominic Thiem wins a match after 421 days and 7 1R losses, beats Filip Misolic at Salzburg Open
Dominic Thiem defeated Filip Misolic 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the ATP Challenger Salzburg Open on Tuesday. Thiem, who won a tennis match after 421 days, will now face Facundo Bagnis of Argentina in the second round.
421 days later, a "Game, set and match, Thiem" was heard at the @ATPChallenger Salzburg Open, where Dominic Thiem defeated World No. 210 Filip Misolic 6-4, 7-5.
It's his first win since May 12, 2021 (had 7 first-round losses in 2022). https://t.co/QtNV9Y1zPz
Thiem defeated Marton Fucsovics at the 2021 Italian Open, which was last win before getting the better of Misolic in Salzburg.
The Austrian stated that he was happy to have won the match at home, which was reflected in his smile.
The smile on my face says it all!
I’m so happy with my match today, it was so special winning here at home in Austria in front of an amazing crowd 🇦🇹
"The smile on my face says it all! I’m so happy with my match today, it was so special winning here at home in Austria in front of an amazing crowd," Dominic Thiem said.
After struggling with injury and illness, Dominic Thiem looks to return to top form
The 28-year-old, who has had continuing struggles with form, injury, and illness expressed confidence that he would eventually get back to form after a long journey and thanked fans for believing in him.
It’s been a long journey and I know there is still a lot of work to be done for me to get back to my top form, but I’m confident that I’ll get there.
Thank you to everybody who has supported and believed in me throughout these challenging times.
"It’s been a long journey and I know there is still a lot of work to be done for me to get back to my top form, but I’m confident that I’ll get there. Thank you to everybody who has supported and believed in me throughout these challenging times."
The 2020 US Open champion took a break to recover from a knee injury after losing his first-round match in Dubai last year.
Thiem then made it to the semifinals in Madrid, where he lost to Alexander Zverev.
After beating Fucsovics at the Italian Open, the former World No. 3 lost to Lorenzo Sonego in his third-round match.
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Dominic Thiem wins his first tennis match in 14 months. PROUD OF HIM! 🥹👏🏻 https://t.co/Y8zFC5NIRT
Opening-round losses against Cameron Norrie at Lyon and to Pablo Anjujar at the French Open followed, which prompted Thiem to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics.
Despite leading 5-2 against Adrian Mannarino at the Mallorca Championships last year, a wrist injury forced him to retire from the contest and eventually miss the rest of the 2021 season.
Returning to action at the Marbella Challenger after a seven-month hiatus, Thiem went down against Pedro Cachin before testing positive for COVID.
A first-round loss against Andy Murray at the Madrid Open was followed by a defeat to Hugo Dellien in the first round of the French Open.
Before winning the US Open in 2020, the player from Lichtenworth also reached the finals of the Australian Open that year.
Dominic Thiem was also a two-time finalist at Roland Garros, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2019.