Dominated by Virtanen, Thiem bids farewell to the French Open

Dominic Thiem will never play the French Open again. Eliminated in the second round of qualifying (6-2, 7-5), he won't be entitled to a final match on the Philippe Chatrier court. Hopes of a final best-of-5 duel in Paris, glimpsed on Monday, were extinguished on Wednesday.

Facing Otto Virtanen, ranked 156th in the world, Thiem was unable to find the key. After a very poor start to the match, in which he was dominated by the majority, the Austrian seemed to come back into the game. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

Ill-treated by a very powerful player, the former world number 3 seemed to be heading straight for a crushing defeat (6-2, 3-1). Showing surprising fighting spirit, he finally managed to respond. Spurred on by a largely sympathetic audience, he gradually made a comeback. To the delight of the Suzanne Lenglen crowd, he regained a lot of weight in his shots, making his Finnish opponent even more uncomfortable. Breaking and then finding an effective first ball, he seemed very close to coming back to within a set of each other. But then the rain intervened. At 5-5, 0-30 on Virtanen's serve, the weather forced the players to leave the court. It easily took half an hour for the roof to close and the court to be repaired.

The scenario feared by all Thiem fans proved to be true. The interruption took the wind out of Thiem's sails. Missing a break point (at 5-5), he finally conceded his serve one last time, synonymous with defeat. With a final forehand miss, Thiem bade farewell to the Paris Grand Slam.

This defeat raises questions. Although it's pretty obvious that 'Domi' no longer had the level to go far at Roland Garros, the subject of his non-invitation to the main draw inevitably comes up. Given the US Open 2020 winner's history with Paris (four-time semi-finalist and two-time finalist), wasn't an invitation to the main draw a foregone conclusion? Wouldn't Thiem have deserved to play one last time on the Philippe Chatrier court? The question is certainly worth asking.

Be that as it may, it's time for the Parisian public and, more broadly, all his fans to accept that this match was the Austrian's last in Paris. Full of emotion, it's time to say goodbye to a champion who left his mark on the history of this tournament, and who will enter the category of players who should have won the French Open.

For 'Domi', the story isn't completely over. His farewell is scheduled for October. In the meantime, he still has a few tournaments left to play, including a possible final appearance at the US Open before bidding farewell to his home tournament in Vienna.