Dominic Thiem reflects on tough French Open first round win
Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem admitted he wasn't playing his best tennis against world No. 131 Tommy Paul but gave credit to the American wildcard fighting hard.
The fourth-seeded Austrian survived a tricky French Open first round clash as he needed four sets to beat the world No. 131 6-4 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-2.
Paul, 22, blew a great chance to take a 2-1 set as he was 4-0 up in the third set tie-break before Thiem stormed back to win seven of the following eight points.
"It was definitely difficult, but I didn't expect an easy match at all," Thiem said post-match, per the Roland Garros website.
"I wasn't playing my best today, that's for sure. And we all could see what happens if I don't play my best tennis. He was playing amazing. It was very, very close."
After winning a tough third set, the 2018 French Open runner-up freed himself and started playing much better as he broke Paul twice to comfortably win the fourth set and set up a second round meeting against Alexander Bublik.
"I didn't play my best tennis and he really took advantage of that. He made it very tough for me out there. The most positive thing I am taking from the match today is the fourth set, because I freed myself. I played way faster, I made things way tougher for him. I moved him around way more. That's what I tried to build up on this fourth set. And of course [winning from] 0-4 in a breaker is nice for the confidence and for the fighting spirit," Thiem added.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/30SFFRK
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