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Up to 838,000 tennis fans cheered in front of television screens through ORF 1. Hoping Dominic Thiem would win the high-profile marathon, characterized by enormous intensity of impact, against Diego Schwartzman. But after 5:10 am, the dream of the fifth consecutive French Open semi-final ended. The Argentine won 7: 6 (1), 5: 7, 6: 7 (6), 7: 6 (5) and 6: 2. Tomorrow Schwartzman will be able to duel with “Sandplatzkönig” Rafael Nadal, Thiem has started the trip home pretty exhausted.
“I’m very disappointed, but I can’t blame myself. I gave 100 percent,” explained the 27-year-old third in the world rankings, who would have given himself a chance against Nadal despite the attrition.
Confidence despite defeat
“I would have had two days off, they would have been very valuable,” reflected the Lichtenwörther, whom Schwartzman could have deciphered. Remember the fourth sentence where Thiem was just two points away from victory at 6: 5 and 30/30 or 40/40. In the tiebreak that followed, he was already leading 3/1. In the decision set the tank was empty and the South American on the other side of the net dominated.
“It also gives me a bit of confidence for future Grand Slam tournaments where, even if I don’t feel at the top anymore, I still play for more than five hours at a very high level,” Thiem said after his 18th game of five sets Match. The 10: 8 balance is still positive. “It was a roller coaster ride with an incredible amount of experience for me,” says the “Dominator” looking back. He’s considered one of the fittest on the tour, but a good six weeks in a “bubble” doesn’t leave him without a trace.
In New York he had won seven games on his way to the US Open title, after only a brief respite he followed the trip to Paris, where Thiem won four games. Before the thriller against Schwartzman, he also had to go through five sentences, with a happy ending against Hugo Gaston (Fra).
Qualified mouth praise
“Many wonder how he can still have so much energy. Look at how the man trains, his intensity, his work ethic, and you will not ask that question again,” Tweeted Patrick Mouratoglou, coach of 23 – replied the triumph of the Grand Slam Serena Williams.
Thiem takes € 283,500 gross from the French Open, bringing his total prize pool to around € 22.87 million. In the world ranking it is still number three with 9125 points. Those 1200 meters that he conquered last year when he reached the final in Paris have been “frozen” because of the corona pandemic. Nadal is second with 9850 points, Novak Djokovic, of course, the undisputed number one and still out of Thiem’s reach.
Now that Lower Austria needs to rest, maybe let it crash with friends away from cameras, as announced after the success of the US Open. Thiem wants to be back in top form on October 26, when the main competition of the Erste Bank Open begins at the Wiener Stadthalle, where Thiem triumphed last year.
After that, the indoor event in Paris-Bercy and this year’s ATP finals for the top eight players in London are on the to-do list this year.
Djokovic victory with complaints
You will also meet Djokovic in the English metropolis. Yesterday, the Serbian tortured himself with a 4: 6, 6: 2, 6: 3, 6: 4 victory over Pablo Carreño Busta (Esp) at the French Open. The 33-year-old favorite was not physically up to the task, the “Djoker” had to be treated for neck and spine problems.
“Yes, I had problems, but I managed to bite this game,” said the veteran. In the semi-finals, Djokovic faces Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was less challenged at 7: 5, 6: 2, 6: 3 against Andrej Rublew (Russia).
Photo: APA / AFP / ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT
Nadal’s dream record: 100 games, 98 wins
Rafael Nadal left witch hour behind in his anniversary match at the French Open and converted his first match point yesterday at 1.26 am It had to be like that, for the “100” at Roland Garros, where the record of twelve times champion of Paris is outstanding. The 7: 6, 6: 4, 6: 1 against the gifted Jannik Sinner of South Tyrol in the quarterfinals was the 98th victory.
Nadal needs 100 to win his thirteenth title. The 34-year-old Mallorcan grows from match to match. That will also be necessary tomorrow in the semifinals against Diego Schwartzman, the Argentine recently inflicting a sensitive two-set defeat on the “king of clay” in Rome.
But in the city of love, clocks tick differently. Here Nadal has only lost two games. One against Robin Söderling (Swe) in the fourth round in 2009 and the quarterfinals in 2015 against Novak Djokovic (Srb).
This year Nadal has yet to give up a single set in his previous five games in Paris, but Sinner pushed him for a long time. “It was tough, but I’m quite happy with my game,” Nadal said. It just doesn’t like low temperatures. “It’s too cold to play tennis, isn’t it? We don’t move all the time, we have interruptions and we switch sides, that makes it a bit dangerous for the body. “
Article of
Alexander Zambarloukos
Sports editor
