Erste Bank Open: Dominic Thiem - "A really emotional evening"
Dominic Thiem sent the Austrian tennis audience into ecstasy on Tuesday with his comeback win against Tommy Paul . After the match, the 29-year-old let his emotions run free.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit:
Oct 25, 2022, 10:29 pm
by Nikolaus Fink from the Wiener Stadthalle
And suddenly there was no holding back. At the latest when Dominic Thiem managed the rebreak to 4: 5 in the third set, the Wiener Stadthalle turned into an absolute madhouse. But at that point in time, no one knew what kind of emotional explosion there would be about 20 minutes later.
Because the script was not finished on this Tuesday evening: Thiem fended off two match points from the great Tommy Paul in the tie-break and after almost three hours of play still won 2: 6, 7: 6 (2) and 7: 6 ( 6). It didn't matter at all that Thiem had started catastrophically. It doesn't matter that Paul was the better player for long stretches of the match. And it doesn't matter that the American ended up scoring nine points more (112 to 103) than Thiem.
Thiem: "Without the audience I would never have won the game"
"Without the audience I would never have won the game today. It was an incredible atmosphere, incredible energy," said Thiem after the match in the press conference. "First of all, it was a really emotional evening and secondly, it was a special game in a way. I was felt to be a slightly weaker player the whole time."
"After winning the title, it was the second most important game here," Thiem classified the importance of the win. As with his triumph three years ago, the former world number three fell to the ground after the converted match point, both Thiem and his entire team let their emotions run free.
Thiem is approaching his best form
"I've certainly never hit myself on the back after a first-round win," Thiem smiled. "I only ever do that in special moments." Such as with his US Open triumph in 2020, when the Lower Austrian fulfilled his lifelong dream in New York. Thiem is currently still a long way from a major triumph, but the trend should make Austrian tennis fans confident.
The next location could be determined for Thiem on Thursday in the round of 16 against Daniil Medvedvev, after all the US Open winner in 2021 and former world number one. Should the Russian win against Nikoloz Basilashvili, Thiem would enjoy this "reward": "I'll hope for the audience again, this energy."
+++ All matches live on ServusTV and ServusTV On +++
Here the individual tableau in Vienna
viennamap