Watch: Dominic Thiem on the verge of tears at Miami Open 2023 as he edges closer to fifth loss in a row
Dominic Thiem's struggles continued at the 2023 Miami Open as he failed to hold back his emotions during his fourth consecutive first-round exit on the tour.
The 2020 US Open champion was beaten 7-6(7), 6-2 by World No. 59 Lorenzo Sonego in the round of 128 in one hour and 56 minutes. After ending the 2022 season with a win-loss record of 18-16, the Austrian has had a forgetful start to the year, losing eight out of his nine matches so far. Thiem's only win of the year came against Slovakia's Alex Molcan at the Argentina Open in February.
Thiem last won a match in Miami in 2016 and last won a match in a Masters 1000 tournament at the 2021 Italian Open. On Thursday night, Sonego improved his head-to-head to 2-1 against the former World No. 3. While the Italian hit 28 winners and nine unforced errors, Thiem finished with 13 winners and 30 unforced errors.
As the two players sat in their chairs right before Sonego was about to serve for the match in the second set, cameras caught a frustrated Thiem uttering something in frustration as he almost broke down in tears.
A tough watch 💔
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The 29-year-old was ranked fifth in the world in June 2021 when he suffered a gruesome wrist injury, forcing him to stay away from the court for nine months. By the time he recovered and made a comeback on the tour in March 2022, he had slipped to No. 50 and his rhythm was completely disrupted.
As many as seven first-round exits saw him fall in the rankings regularly as he reached No. 352 in June 2022. Despite struggling with form, he showed signs of improvement last year, improving to No. 106 in the ATP rankings.
Dominic Thiem picks French Open 2019 final against Nadal for a rematch
Dominic Thiem has lost two French Open finals against Rafael Nadal and one Australian Open final against Novak Djokovic. During a recent discussion on Eurosport, Casper Ruud asked the Austrian which of his title clashes he would pick for a rematch. Thiem chose the 2019 Roland Garros final, where Nadal beat him 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.
"If I could choose one rematch, I would choose the 2019 French Open final, maybe with a slightly different preparation. I played four days in a row before the final," Thiem said. "And then, I would do some different things, especially after that second set. There are just some things coming to my mind and it's clay, it's a tournament maybe I love the most and I've played my best tennis in."
At the recent 2023 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Dominic Thiem fell to Adrian Mannarino in three sets.