Dominic Thiem’s final French Open dream over after loss in qualification
Dominic Thiem’s dream of playing at Roland-Garros’ clay courts for one final time has ended after his loss to Otto Virtanen 6-2, 7-5 in qualification for the French Open 2024.
Thiem, denied a wild card, packed the spectators at Court Suzanne-Lenglen in southern Paris on Wednesday afternoon for the second qualifying round. The enthusiastic crowd was disappointed in the first set when Virtanen raced ahead 4-1. Thiem held serve to get one back, but a whitewash in the next game extinguished any remaining chance.
“I slowly build up a great relationship with the tournament and all the fans. I had so many great results, memories and experiences here on these courts. It is the Grand Slam with my best results. So, I enjoyed every single year of it,” Thiem said in a ceremony held after the match where he also received a special trophy. Thiem, the former world number three who won the US Open in 2020, revealed earlier this month that he will retire at the end of the season. The 30-year-old has been dealing with reoccurring difficulties since sustaining a wrist injury in 2021.
Thiem denied the Finn twice on set point, but it was insufficient to save a 6-2 loss. The second session started poorly, with a 3-1 deficit, but then came the comeback. The 30-year-old broke and both men alternated holding until they reached five games each. However, just as Thiem appeared to be gaining traction, the heavens erupted and rain stopped play. Once the Parisian clouds cleared, Virtanen was in full charge, determined to outperform his performance at this stage a year ago. He quickly took the lead and twice had himself on match point, only for Thiem to come back. But it was third time fortunate for the younger man, who cruised to the victory in straight sets.
Thiem said in the emotional aftermath, in which he was given a standing ovation and presented with a commemorative slice of the court: “Thank you everybody who came. It was a great farewell. There was great support and atmosphere. There is a special relationship with this tournament, from the second year I played finals in the juniors. “I built a great relationship with the tournament and fans. I have so many great memories – it’s been my best results.” Virtnanen added: “It was the last chance to play at Roland-Garros against him. I would like to see him play more clay-court tennis. Since I was a young kid, I was watching all the matches here.”