Dominic Thiem looks back on low point of season at Roland Garros
ATP
Dominic Thiem was able to turn around his season in recent weeks but he remembers a time when things were quite different.
The Austrian player missed a significant portion of the opening weeks of this season due to a wrist injury, which he sustained in Mallorca the previous season.
He made a comeback in Marbella in the final week of March, but it took him much longer until he achieved his first win. The Austrian lost seven matches in a row in the first round.
The last of those seven losses came at the French Open, where he once played in the final. Thiem lost to Hugo Dellien in the first round of the clay-court Grand Slam, 3-6, 2-6, 4-6.
Now, speaking at the Vienna Open, Thiem admitted that his first-round loss at Roland Garros was the lowest point, not only of his season but likely also of his tennis career.
"The French Open was the absolute low point, where I can understand all the critics. It was horrible how I played there."
Thiem knew already before the tournament that he might struggle. He saw that his level in practice was not good enough to beat his opponent.
"I had my doubts because before that there were a few months of full training. I saw in training that I'm far away and I can't win a set against the good guys."
Thiem won a match at the ATP Challenger event in Salzburg immediately after his loss in Paris. After that, he was able to beat Emil Ruusuvuori at the Bastad Open, and from there, he started picking up confidence.
He wants to follow up on those results in Vienna, where the home crowd will certainly support him. The Austrian player won the ATP 500 event in Vienna in 2019, so he knows how it feels to succeed in his country's capital.
