By Tennis Now | Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Dominic Thiem saved match point edging Frenchman Hugo Gaston 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(7) to reach the second round of the Swiss Open Gstaad.
Photo credit: Getty
Dominic Thiem was a fighter to the finish in Gstaad.
Thiem saved match point in the tiebreaker edging Frenchman Hugo Gaston 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(7) to reach the second round of the Swiss Open Gstaad.
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This match was a rematch of the 2020 Roland Garros round of 16, which Thiem won in five pulsating sets.
Today, the left-handed Gaston won five straight games to start the match before Thiem held at love to finally get on the board.
The seventh-seeded Frenchman, who reached his first ATP final in Gstaad last year, served out the opening set at 15.
The 2020 US Open champion Thiem answered with a five-game surge of his own to snatch the second set.
Tension tightened in the third-set tiebreaker as Thiem sent a forehand long putting Gaston up 5-3.
Thiem exploited an error then launched an ace to level. On Thiem's first match point at 6-5, Gaston tripped a net cord winner to saved it. On Gaston's match point, Thiem slammed a heavy body serve to level at 7-all.
A twisting serve down the T brought Thiem to a second match point. The two-time Roland Garros runner-up repelled a Gaston serve-and-volley attempt with a backhand down line to close in two hours.
Returning to Gstaad for the first time since he won the 2015 title, Thiem improved to 3-7 on clay this season. He will face another left-hander, Federico Delbonis, in the second round.
Earlier, German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann upset sixth-seeded Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-4. Hanfmann will play either qualifier Nicolas Jarry next. Jarry slipped past Thiago Monteiro 6-7(9), 7-6(4), 7-6(6).
Playing his first clay-court match in 37 days, Richard Gasquet maintained his mastery of Roberto Carballes Baena with a 7-5, 6-4 victory—his third over the Spaniard in as many meetings.
Gasquet moves into a second-round clash vs. second-seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini, who was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon after contracting Coronavirus.
Qualifier Elias Ymer led Benoit Paire 6-2, 2-0 when the Frenchman retired with a right groin injury. Ymer will face fifth-seeded Spaniard Pedro Martinez in round two.