Dominic Thiem of Austria beat seventh seed Alex Molcan of Slovakia 7-6 6-3 in a first round match at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. The match lasted for a little more than two hours as the 29-year-old Thiem managed to emerge victorious in the end.
The former US Open champion, who struggled with his slow recovery from injury last season, should savor the victory over the seeded Slovak. On that note, we will take a look at how the match progressed.
How Dominic Thiem Defeated Alex Molcan
#1. Thiem moved quite well in the match from the very beginning:
Dominic Thiem moved very well in the match, even as Molcan tried to test the former’s court-coverage by making him move from side to side. However, Thiem often had just about enough time to get to the ball on a clay court.
Still, the first set went to a tie-break and the Austrian managed to win it in the end as Molcan hit a return long on set point. Thiem thus drew the first blood in a match was a close fight until that point.
#2. Thiem easily won the second set by hitting the ball well:
The second set also saw some impressive ballstriking by the Austrian, as the Slovak struggled to hold his own in the baseline exchanges. He tried playing a few drop shots to drag Thiem into the net, but Thiem again showed exceptional movement to retrieve the ball, like in the eighth game of the set to go 40-0 up on Molcan’s serve.
Thiem then went on to break the Slovak in the same game and served out the match subsequently. Thiem won 72% of the points against Molcan’s 69%, which was a minor difference, but proved to be too much in the end.
Main Photo from Getty.
