Dellien delivers the goods to deal with Thiem
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Loading... - Noah Tremblay
- 27 Jul 2022
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The Bolivian returned to the Roland-Garros second round for the first time since 2019.
Hugo Dellien put in a dominant display to deny Dominic Thiem a comeback victory at Roland-Garros 2022.
The 28-year-old Bolivian, who has played every match this season on clay, capitalised upon an under par showing from the 2018-19 finalist to post 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 on a packed Court Simonne-Mathieu.
Thiem, working has way back from a wrist injury sustained last June, remains without a tour victory since Rome 12 months ago.
World No.87 Dellien advanced to his joint-best Grand Slam showing to take on either Portuguese qualifier Nuno Borges or 21st seed Karen Khachanov.
Story of the match
There was a warm applause for former world No.3 Thiem, the crowd eager for the Austrian to regain his confidence and footing on the terre battue.
An early break point presented a warning sign, Thiem striking a brace of inside-in forehand winners to fend off trouble.
However, Dellien was a wall at the baseline and was clipping in plenty of disguised drop shots and power play to pin the 2020 US Open champion behind the baseline.
Thiem wasn’t assured in his shot choice or connections. One moment glancing trademark backhands down the line, but then the 28-year-old was being rushed into flicked, defensive strikes.
In contrast, Dellien was flourishing on the front foot and opened up a 4-1 advantage. The Bolivian, qualifying for ATP events in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Estoril and Madrid this season, exemplified his clay-court prowess to tease the errors from Thiem’s racquet and steal and immediate break in set two.
Dellien was delivering the goods, running round to whip a lassoed forehand pass to cap another 4-1 lead. The world No.87 roared towards his team in delight and maintained his level and control on the contest to the very finish.
Key stats
Dellien’s variety caused Thiem a plethora of problems, including six successful drop shots and 10/12 success rate at the net.
The Bolivian also snatched away the initiative on his delivery, landing 80 per cent of first serves and denying Thiem any break points during the straight sets triumph.
It was an emphatic scoreline for the world No.87, who has wielded his racquet all season on the clay courts, impressing with a 32-14 record across all tiers, including qualifying.
For current world No.194 Thiem it’s back to the drawing board having lost his past 10 matches. Read More...
