Dominic Thiem is back to winning ways at the 2023 Croatia Open in Umag as he defeated a rather solid opponent in Facundo Bagnis in two sets.
The Austrian faced Bagnis around this time last year and lost that match which shows a certain dose of improvement this year. The year still hasn't been that good for Thiem, as the Austrian is still far from the level he was before he got injured, but he's trending in the right direction.
After all, it's a long road back from an injury which wasn't the only thing troubling Thiem. He battled a lack of motivation for a very long time before the injury, so there is more to the surface. When it comes to this match, well, it went a lot better than his Gstaad loss.
He took the opening set 6-4 behind solid overall play that wasn't earth-shattering but was good enough. Thiem didn't serve that well, which created some minor issues for him, but he played the crucial rallies better. He saved both break points he faced while using one of the three Bagnis gave him.
That proved enough though he had to work a lot harder in the second set. Bagnis raised his level considerably while Thiem remained about the same having to save some early break points. The Austrian couldn't create as many chances on the serve of Bagnis in the second set.
Despite all the best efforts from Bagnis, Thiem managed to keep the Argentinian away from breaking him which worked out well for him as he got chances at 5-5 and used them. The Austrian broke Bagnis at the perfect time to calmly bring the match to an end.
The final score was 6-4 7-5; a rather solid performance from Thiem saved all six break points he faced, and that was the crucial thing. Had he gotten broken once, he would have probably played three sets, and who knows what would have happened then? He will face top seed Jiri Lehecka next.
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