ATP Tournament in Metz, 1st round, Tuesday, 20.09.2022
Here he was at last in a final again and was promptly played to the wall. Dominic Thiem had certainly imagined his finals comeback differently, but perhaps he can go on to further success in France.
The ATP tournament in Metz is in the starting blocks and has a better line-up than the recent Challenger in Rennes. Betano sees two players on an equal footing in the first round of the Austrian. In my Gasquet Thiem tip, I reveal what I think is in the Frenchman’s favour!
It was a beautiful tournament, but in the end it ruthlessly showed the limits. Dominic Thiem looks back on the Challenger in Rennes with mixed feelings. After almost eternal months of waiting, he had finally fought his way into a final once again.
Fought, that was a good keyword, because he had already needed the full three sets against Gilles Simon and Adrian Andreew. A 6-4, 6-3 against Ryan Peniston had also revealed a few weaknesses.
In the end it didn’t matter, because only reaching the final counted. When Thiem faced local hero Ugo Humbert, it became clear that he is nowhere near ready to put opponents in this weight class in their place again.
He lost 3-6, 0-6, and the humiliation in the second set was particularly painful. “The first set was not so bad. I had some chances to come back. He played fantastic tennis and I made some mistakes. At the beginning of the second I was not good, I wanted to stay in the match. Then the match slipped away from me,” he analysed the match itself.
Dennoch: The Austrian spoke of a good week. The French ground did him good, the trip to Metz was only short. Here the opponents get stronger, for Thiem it starts once again with a match against a Frenchman.
Six years ago he took part in this tournament for the first and so far only time, and with maximum success! He dropped only one set, then won the final against Lucas Pouille.
This year, Thiem, who is once again among the best 185 players in the world, is of course not listed among the favourites. Already in his 1st round, a tough opponent awaits him in Richard Gasquet.
The Frenchman leads 2-1 in the direct duel, but the most recent match in 2019 went clearly to Thiem. Our bookmakers don’t quite know how to rate the two players either.
1.85 to 1.90, it’s Gasquet who is ahead by very slim margins. After the US Open, the veteran took a long break, now he returns to the court at home.
In New York, he did not cut a bad figure, defeating Taro Daniel and Miomir Kecmanovic in four sets each. Only when he clearly lost 0-6, 1-6, 5-7 to Rafael Nadal did he have no chance of progressing.
The 36-year-old had already shown by reaching the quarter-finals in Winston-Salem that he is far from being sidelined. Actually, he and Thiem should have already met once this year in Kitzbühel.
The Austrian’s withdrawal meant that the duel can only be made up now. While Thiem has only competed once in Metz, Gasquet knows every inch of the venue.
In his numerous participations, he has reached a final once, in 2004, when Thiem was only eleven years old. Will his experience help him reach the 2nd round this Tuesday?
My Gasquet Thiem Tip
Dominic Thiem has provided some light and shade in Rennes. His fighting qualities were great to watch, but the final turned out to be more of a fiasco. It is far from time to see him back to his old strength.
Richard Gasquet has shown quite strong matches in the last months. We didn’t see any victories against the big names, but he was able to beat opponents who are definitely above Thiem. That’s why I’m also betting:
Gasquet prevails over Thiem!
