Dominic Thiem comes back from set down to win his first ATP match in 14 months

| by Kadir Macar

It's been a long journey for Dominic Thiem which still continues, but finally he managed to win his first ATP match of the 2022 season.

Prior to the 2022 Bastad Open, where Dominic Thiem competes thanks to a protected ranking, the Austrian played a Challenger tournament in his home country. He managed to win a match there, but he was yet to win a match on the ATP Tour since May last year.

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The 2020 US Open champion started his comeback this year in March when he played a Challenger in Marbella. Then, he played a few ATP tournaments in Belgrade, Estoril, Madrid, Rome, Geneva and eventually the Roland Garros.

The Austrian lost five out of six ATP matches he played without winning a set and he was certainly looking to improve this stat in Bastad. But for a long time it seemed that he won't be able to do that.

In the first set, everything went well for his opponent Emil Ruusuvuori. He got two breaks and was looking to win the set 6-1. But he got broken back and eventually won the set 6-3.

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Ruusuvuori had 3 breakpoints in the second set to break away from his opponent, but the something changed. Thiem won 21 out of 25 rallies and dominantly triumphed in the second set, 6-1.

Former world number 3 had a slow start into the third set, but then again switched gears and after two hours, he got the lead of the match for the first time. But soon, he got broken back again and so fans in the Swedish city enjoyed a bit more action.

Eventually, Thiem prevailed to win the match 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(5) and get his first ATP triumph in 14 months. He will try to continue in winning ways also in the second round, but he will face the fourth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut who will be a very difficult opponent.

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