Dominic Thiem, the two-time French Open champion has been knocked out of the tournament in the first round at the Roland Garros after losing to Bolvian world number 87 Hugo Dellien in Paris on Sunday.
Although Thiem’s rustiness was evident in just his sixth match of 2022 since returning from a right wrist injury suffered last June, Dellien was inspired in the pair’s first tour-level meeting. The Bolivian’s effortless movement around the court and high-class ball striking made life difficult for Thiem from the opening game as Dellien surged to a fifth tour-level victory of the year.
Thiem showed signs of his best with some trademark cleanly struck backhand winners, but the Austrian struggled for consistency throughout. Dellien let slip a breakpoint in Thiem’s opening service game of the match as the Austrian held for 1-1, but the Bolivian remained aggressive, keeping the Thiem serve under constant pressure and cleverly using his drop shot to pull the 2020 US Open champion around the court.
Theim played four staright semi-finals and five straight quarter-finals at the Roland Garros from 2016 to 2020, is still waiting for his first win in 2022 after returning from wrist injury last June.
