Extremely loud Vienna crowd pushes Thiem to sensational comeback win as he saves 2 MPs
ATP
Dominic Thiem defeated Tommy Paul at the 2022 Vienna Open as the crowd pushed him towards a sensational comeback.
Both players met three years ago at the Roland Garros when Thiem defeated Paul in four sets on his way to the final, where he met Rafael Nadal. This time, the situation was different as the Austrian was still on his way back from an injury and wasn't a heavy favorite like before.
The first set showed exactly that. The American player won 12 out of the first 14 rallies, and soon he was up 4-0 in the first set. Thiem couldn't respond to a superb start from his opponent, and after just 28 minutes, he lost the first set 2-6.
However, the crowd in Vienna came to enjoy a long match in which they supported their favorite player, and they showed that in the second set.
Both players had plenty of break point chances but none of those were used as the Austrian eventually won the set 7-2 in a tie-break after an hour and 15 minutes.
The deciding set didn't start well for Thiem. He got immediately broken, and when he was down 1-4 and faced another break point, it seemed that he would leave his home tournament already after one match.
Yet, the crowd played a significant role and pushed the Austrian to a sensational comeback win. Thiem got a break back and eventually forced a tie-break while absorbing energy from loud cheers.
Despite facing two match points in the tie-break, Thiem proved to be a better player and won the match 2-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(6) after three hours. In the second round, he will meet the winner of the match between the first-seeded Daniil Medvedev and Nikoloz Basilashvili.
After the match, Thiem was shining with a smile on his face. He was very happy about the crowd support, thanking them for the great atmosphere.
"It was very special tonight. Probably the most important match for me here after the final I won. I was always behind today, but the crowd was really unbelievable. It was three years ago since I played in an atmosphere like that today."
"It could have gone either way. The conditions are always different here so I had trouble to get into the match. He was also playing well but I kept the match close and played my best tennis in the tiebreaks."
