Two-time Roland Garros finalist Dominic Thiem has to play in the qualifying in 2024 to get into the main draw, and he started with a win.
For the Austrian player, this year has been a surprising mix of shocking tennis performances and the inevitable reality that he simply can't reach the same level anymore.
It's not as if he was slightly worse than he was, which was a Top 10 player capable of reaching major finals, he is a player who doesn't play on a Top 50 level and hasn't in a long time.
Like any player, he can have performances worthy of it at times, but he has been playing far below his usual level for the most part. He lost matches to players ranked outside the Top 200 this year, which were the worst losses in his tennis career.
His final Roland Garros didn't start through the main draw but the qualifiers because he didn't receive a wild card from the tournament organizers, and he already played his first match.
It was a tricky match against Franco Agamenone, who is certainly capable of producing a solid level. The Italian started well, taking an early 3-0 lead, which he would keep for the rest of the set, taking it 6-3.
Neither player was particularly sharp, but the 2020 US Open champion struggled to serve and generally missed more. The Austrian's second set was much better, even though he didn't serve better.
He actually served worse, but he remained fairly stable from the baseline and quite focused. He didn't allow a single break point while converting those given to him, and that was enough for a 6-3 second-set win to force the decider.
The final set was quite interesting. Both missed a lot, but Agamenone could barely keep the ball in play. Thiem was super aggressive, wanting to finish it quickly, and he took an early 3-0 lead, even though he lost one of the breaks later.
He still comfortably cruised to the finish line, as he simply played better tennis down the stretch. The final score was 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 for Thiem, who will now play against Otto Virtanen in the second out of three rounds of the qualifying.
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