Dominic Thiem stepped up for Austria in the 2024 Davis Cup, delivering a big point after beating the world number 935, Michael Agwi.
The Austrian's career watch is underway, as a recent comment by Thiem made it seem like retirement was an option for him if he doesn't start winning. It was a pretty major revelation by Thiem, who has had a very tough time with tennis in recent years, especially after his injury.
The crowning moment of his career came at the US Open a few years ago, but it's been a proper nightmare since then, and it hasn't gotten any better recently. The Australian Open resulted in a brutal loss against Felix Auger-Aliassime, and it's pretty evident that he's very frustrated with how things are going.
It's so dire that he's actually skipping big events to play challengers in hopes of rebuilding his confidence and tennis. This win will help with that, even though it's not particularly impressive.
He was facing world number 935, Michael Agwi of Ireland, and struggled quite a bit against the youngster. The Irish player gave Thiem quite a bit of trouble in the opening set, pushing him to a tiebreak.
Thiem actually had a break in hand twice in that set but never closed it out. The second one came at 5-5 and set it up perfectly, but he still couldn't finish it off. He did win the tiebreak 8-6, but even that was a struggle as he was facing three set points at 3-6.
Luckily for him and Austria, he found a much better level in the second set and could close it out pretty painlessly, 7-6(6), 6-3.
It was a good win for Thiem in the sense that he needs wins, but he certainly didn't impress anyone with that display. He'll have to do much better.
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