Dominic Thiem made a return to clay and it was a great one as he won the first match at the Swiss Open in Gstaad.
Thiem last played at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships where he played a really solid match almost beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in a 5-set epic. Thiem has been looking a lot better recently which is interesting because he started to play much better last year at this time as well.
The start of the year has been very shaky as the Austrian hasn't even won 15 matches this year and this was his 30th match he played this year. This is actually only his 8th win on the ATP Tour level this year as 5 of his wins came on the Challenger Tour and that's a pretty good indicator of how poor his season has been.
Being back on clay certainly aided him in that but he actually played a really strong match against a player who is solid. The first set was a masterclass from Thiem as he dominated his opponent easily winning the set 6-1.
Muller gave him some minor trouble but the crucial rallies were all won by Thiem who won 7 of 8 points when the French opponent missed his first serve The serve is a major weapon for Muller who didn't use it well in the high altitude of Gstaad.
He was much sharper in the second set keeping Thiem from many channels while creating ones for himself. Still, the Austrian held on which proved crucial in winning the match. Outplaying Muller in the crucial rallies was the one thing that basically ensured that the match flowed nicely for him.
It's been a tough time for Thiem this year with many heartbreaking losses so starting off comfortably was huge for his confidence. The Austrian closed out the match in the tiebreak with a really strong finish 7-4. A really strong match from Thiem who had 9 aces saving all four break points he faced.
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