The French Open 2021 has already started to produce a couple of upsets on its first day. While Angelique Kerber was ousted by the Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina, fourth seed Dominic Thiem lost his first-round match against Pablo Andujar in five sets 4-6,5-7,6-3,6-4,6-4.

It was a sloppy performance from the Austrian throughout the match. Even though he showed glimpses of his previous best here and there, Thiem couldn’t capitalize on the momentum for longer periods.

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“I have to think about what’s wrong at the moment”, says Dominic Thiem

Also, Pablo Andujar pushed Thiem on the edge many times in the match. The Spaniard mixed his game, used a lot of drop shots to surprise Thiem, and also played perfect return games at crucial junctures of the contest.

However, Thiem wasn’t going to bow out of a match without putting up a fight. Unfortunately for the Austrian, his fighting spirit was overpowered by Andujar’s smart game-play. Whenever the Spaniard was down by a break on his serve, he went big on first serves, much to the surprise of Dominic Thiem.

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Talking in the post-match press conference about his performance, the Austrian expressed shock and surprise over his performance at Roland Garros.

“All my career, the last five, six years it was upwards. I never had losses like that, especially here in Roland Garros. Losing like that is very strange to me. I have to think about what’s wrong at the moment”, Thiem said.

Thiem hopes to bounce back stronger than before

The Austrian also reflected on his first grand-slam victory at the US Open last year, and mentioned that he is still trying to understand and digest that big victory against Alexander Zverev.

“I mean, it’s amazing to reach such a big goal. But at the same time, something is different after. And, as I said before the tournament, it’s a big learning process and despite the loss which hurts so much, I still hope I can bounce back stronger than before”, explained Thiem.

The tw0-time French Open runner-up also mentioned his lack of clarity over attaining peak form any time soon.

“But well, right now, I don’t know when the moment is coming”, concluded the Austrian

Heading into the match, Andujar was expected to give a tough fight to the Austrian. But, this victory against a top-5 player will be of huge benefit to the Spaniard. Just before the French Open, Pablo Andujar managed to defeat the Swiss Maestro Roger Federer in the second-round contest at the Geneva Open.

With Thiem’s exit, there is a huge scope for lower-ranked players present in the bottom half to make it big at the French Open this year. Pablo Andujar awaits the winner of the first-round contest between Radu Albot and Federico Delbonis.

Dominic Thiem Squanders Two Sets Lead, Loses in 1st Round Shocker Against Pablo Andujar at French Open 2021