Clear 2:0 success

Dominic Thiem against Lukas Neumayer LIVE today

Dominic Thiem (right) was clearly defeated by Lukas Neumayer.(Bild: GEPA pictures, APA/AFP/WILLIAM WEST, Photoshop)

21-year-old Lukas Neumayer from Salzburg knocks Dominic Thiem out of the Challenger tournament in Zadar! In the red-white-red duel, Austria's former number one clearly lost 2:6 and 1:6. Neumayer (ATP rank 219) - Günter Bresnik's protégé - is thus through to the quarter-finals.

Dominic Thiem suffered the next serious setback in his battle to remain at the top of the tennis world on Wednesday. The 30-year-old from Lower Austria, once number 3 in the world and four-time Grand Slam finalist, was beaten 2:6, 1:6 in the Austrian duel with 21-year-old Lukas Neumayer in the Challenger round of 16 in Zadar after 101 minutes. His next appearance is scheduled for next week in Naples, also a Challenger.

In the first round, the top-seeded Thiem had defeated the Serb Filip Krajinovic 6:2, 7:6(4).

Many mistakes by Thiem
However, he was on the losing side against Neumayer right from the start and was unable to hurt the man from Salzburg. He also continued to make too many mistakes. After trailing 0:3, Thiem missed four rebreak chances at 1:3 and subsequently fell behind 0:5 in set two. By the skin of his teeth, the world number 90 still managed an honorary game.

Neumayer, who is ranked 219th in the world and showed a strong, consistent performance himself, will now face Czech qualifier Jonas Forejtke.

For Thiem, the second of three planned Challenger tournaments has thus also turned out to be a pipe dream. The 2020 US Open winner wanted to secure points at this level in order to get closer to his declared goal for this year of returning to the top 50. His next match is next week at the higher-paying ATP Challenger125 in Naples.

Thiem's record this year: after successfully qualifying for the ATP tournament in Brisbane, he lost in the first round to Rafael Nadal, followed by a five-set defeat in round one against Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Australian Open. He contributed a singles win at the Davis Cup in Ireland and lost his opening match in Szekesfehervar last week.

The 17-time ATP tournament winner has recently suggested several times that he could hang up his racket this year if he does not manage to significantly improve his ranking.