Thiem was asked to pack his bags and leave the land of the showpiece Grand Slam after a marathon first round showdown in the Dominic Thiem vs Pablo Andujar clash
The first gargantuan causality has emerged from the claycourt French Open. Sunday saw Dominic Thiem who has finished twice at the grand slam was asked to pack his bags and make an early exit after suffering an unprecedented defeat.
Up against Spain’s Pablo Andujar in the first round of the competition, Dominic Thiem was widely touted to gander his way into the ensuing stage. And he looked set to live upto the expectations accorded on his head as he dictated proceedings against Andujar to take a two set lead.
Dominic Thiem vs Pablo Andujar
Despite being kanckered early on owing to his stray shots, Thiem showed his mettle as he settled into his groove. He broke back after conceding a break in the first game of the decider, but failed to keep the gusty Andujar at bay.
Andujar’s deep strokes saw him break again at 3-2 with Thiem dropping to 11-9 in five-set matches to lose 4-6 5-7 6-3 6-4 6-4 on the day. Thiem’s defeat marked the first ever time he parted way with the French Open in the first round in eight appearances.
For 68th ranked Pablo Andujar, the win saw him silence his naysayers. Many had touted Andujar’s win against Roger Federer in Geneva earlier this month to be a fortuitous one. However, his fight and character today saw after losing the opening two sets for the first time in his career.
Meanwhile Thiem who is currently the US Open champion vowed to come back stronger after the defeat. The Paris 2018 and 2019 finalist said he wished he would be stronger in the aftermath of the day’s unprecedented defeat.
"I still hope I can bounce back stronger than before” –@ThiemDomi #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/LU2YxS7Thw
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2021
Naomi Osaka Fined At The French Open
In another massive development on the day, Naomi Osaka was fined $15,000 for her refusal to interact with media people. The Japanese was dished out the fine by the men in charge of the French Open 2021 proceeding her first round win on Sunday.
Osaka’s troubles have not ended though with the richest earning women’s tennis player being warned about future action as well. The bigwigs of the competition has gone onto issue a statement which asserted that Osaka could be disqualified from the French Open if she continued to miss her media duties.
Also Read: French Open 2021 Naomi Osaka Fined