FRENCH OPEN TENNIS NEWS – LOOKING AT THE PARIS DRAW SINCE RAFA PULLED OUT, & THIEM BEATS ZVEREV AT ROLAND GARROS 2016

Written by: Staff on 28th May 2016

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

FRENCH OPEN TENNIS NEWS - LOOKING AT THE PARIS DRAW SINCE RAFA PULLED OUT, & THIEM BEATS ZVEREV AT ROLAND GARROS 2016

epa05333376 Dominic Thiem of Austria reacts as he plays against Alexander Zverev of Germany during their men's single third round match at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 28 May 2016.??? EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT |

By Ricky Dimon

A major opportunity awaited Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev at the French Open on Saturday–and not just because they found themselves in the third round of a Grand Slam. With projected fourth-round opponent Rafael Nadal having withdrawn because of a wrist injury less than 24 hours earlier, that section of the draw had suddenly burst wide open. In a flash, a potential quarterfinal and even semifinal spot presented itself on a silver platter to the remaining contenders in Nadal’s quarter.

It was Thiem who took the first step toward benefiting from such a shocking development, as the Austrian beat Zverev 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 after almost three hours of play.

Perhaps bogged down by ever-increasing expectations and by the pressure of facing a good friend on the other side of the net, Thiem came out slow and squandered all six of his break-point chances before dropping a first set that lasted one hour and one minute.

“I think I had six break points (at 5-5) and five out of six break points he served a really good first serve, so I couldn’t do anything once I was in the rally,” the world No. 15 explained. “I lost it, but I didn’t do any bad mistakes in this game, so it was fine for me. I knew that the [match was going to be long and] tough, because we are both fresh, so it was not a big trauma to lose that first set.”

It certainly wasn’t. Thiem recovered immediately to take control of the proceedings starting early in set two. The 22-year-old’s second break gave him a 4-2 advantage and at that point he was off to the races. In the third and fourth sets, Thiem never dropped serve and saved all seven of the break points he faced. A loved hold at 5-3 in the fourth wrapped closed things out in style.

Alexander Zverev of Germany in action against Dominic Thiem of Austria during their men’s single third round match at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 28 May 2016. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT

“I thought it was quite tight actually the whole match,” Zverev assessed. “He used his chances much better than me. I had a lot of break points…. The score at the end was not as tight as I think the match was.”

Instead of going up against Nadal, Thiem will face Marcel Granollers on Monday. But the 13th seed said he did not think about that dynamic while on the court. Zverev, in fact, asked during his press conference whom Thiem was playing next. The German insisted that he never looks ahead in draws–especially not at Grand Slams.

“Oh, Granollers,” Zverev started. “I think he will most likely beat Granollers, to be honest.”

“Of course I heard it, but I tried not to focus on that,” Thiem said of Nadal’s withdrawal. “I [managed to do it], because I knew it [was] gonna be a really, really hard match today–which it was. So I didn’t think about it at all. Just wish Rafa all the best.”