Dominic Thiem was supposed to be the next big thing in men’s tennis after the ‘Big Three’ of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. The Austrian won the 2020 US Open title, defeating his rival, Alexander Zverev, in the summit clash. It was a thrilling finale, with the match going down right to the wire. Thiem eventually prevailed in the deciding set tiebreaker to lift his biggest title to date.

However, injuries coupled with inconsistent form have put breaks on his rise. Thiem suffered a wrist injury at the Mallorca Open in June, last year, which cut short his 2021 season. He missed the Australian Open this year too, after failing to recover in time.

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Recently, Thiem was in Portugal to take part in the Estoril Open. However, he had an unfortunate first-round exit at the tournament. The former World Number 3 expressed his disappointment post his defeat.

Dominic Thiem expresses his frustration after another early loss

During the post-match interview after his first-round exit at the Estoril Open, Thiem said, “I’m very pissed because I really wanted to play a 3rd set.” However, he maintained that the second set was the best he played since his comeback.

Thiem was up against World Number 58 from France, Benjamin Bonzi, in the opening round of the ATP 250 Estoril Open 2022. The Frenchman dominated the match right from the word go, as Thiem showed signs of rustiness in only his third tournament after a long absence.

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Bonzi attacked Thiem’s serve well and finally found success when he broke the Austrian’s serve in the sixth game of the opening set. Subsequently, Bonzi held his serves in his next service games to take the first set 6-3.

Further, the second set was an evenly contested battle. Both the players held their serves as the set eventually proceeded into a tiebreaker. However, Bonzi held his nerves to win points at crucial junctures to enter the second round of the tournament.

This resulted in another first-round defeat for Thiem on his comeback, after similar results in Marbella and Belgrade. Nonetheless, he will be eager to put on a good show in the coming tournaments, now that he has made a return to the sport after a delayed comeback.