Start victory in Estoril

Dominic Thiem against Maximilian Marterer today LIVE

Almost two weeks after his bitter round of 16 exit at the Challenger in Zadar, Dominic Thiem bounced back on Monday with a first round win at the 250 ATP tournament in Estoril! The Lower Austrian, who is struggling with new wrist problems, beat the German Maximilian Marterer 6:1, 6:7(3), 6:4 on clay. In the round of 16, he will play the experienced Richard Gasquet, who is the lucky loser.

Thiem left no doubts in the first set against Marterer, who had not yet won a match at ATP level in 2024 and was quite error-prone at the start, with solid play. However, the former world no. 3 conceded a surprising break in the second set to make it 1:2. Thiem stayed in contention, managed to break back to 4:4, but only scored three points in a completely unsuccessful tie-break.

In the third set, Thiem broke the serve of his opponent, ranked 97th in the world, right at the start, but immediately conceded the re-break. The new break by the now more confident 2020 US Open winner to make it 3:2 was decisive. At 5:3 and with Marterer serving, Thiem missed his first match point. Immediately afterwards, however, he served out confidently to win the third duel with Marterer.

"Really happy that it ended well for me!"
"I came here early to prepare, and it paid off. It was a great first set, Max played much better in the second, so it was an open match. I'm really happy that it ended well for me," said Thiem.

During the winner's interview, Thiem learned that he would not be facing the number 4 seed from Spain, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, but Gasquet, who had stepped in as the lucky loser. The Frenchman had failed to qualify, but after Davidovich Fokina withdrew due to toothache, the 37-year-old is now through to the round of 16. Thiem has played Gasquet five times so far, winning the last three encounters. The Lower Austrian had recently suffered a bitter second-round defeat against Lukas Neumayer at the Challenger in Zadar. It was only later that he reported a recurrence of pain in his wrist, which has been damaged since 2021.