425 days later, Dominic Thiem is back to winning on the ATP Tour

By beating the Finnish Ruusuvuori this afternoon on the clay court in Bastad, Dominic Thiem ended a 10-match losing streak on the main tour. His last win was against Marton Fucsovics, one year and two months ago. Faced with a lack of confidence and a drop in level that he has been suffering since his return from injury, today’s win should do the man who is now 339th in the world a lot of good. The Austrian even played some very good tennis in sequences.

After a very average first set in which he committed many unforced errors, Dominic Thiem rectified his aim in the second and third sets against the Finn, Emil Ruusuvuori, ranked 43rd in the world. One thing the Austrian didn’t lose was the quality of his drop shots and his ability to mask them well. Then, as the match progressed, his famous backhand rockets started to leave his racquet better and better. In the last set, it was on her forehand that Domi started to break free. This is clearly the stroke that he has been struggling with the most lately. On serve, he was able to raise his level during the match to show good quality and a good first ball percentage (82% in the 2nd set). The stacking of games in the second set, due in large part to the numerous errors of a deregulated Ruusuvuori, greatly influenced this rise in level and gave him the confidence to go for the win today.

He’ll have to go one step further if he wants to win a second straight match on Thursday, as he’ll face the Spanian world No. 20 Roberto Bautista-Agut in the second round. In their last meeting in March 2021, Thiem lost.

Former world No. 3 and now 339th in the ATP rankings, Dominic Thiem is on his way back to the top of world tennis. Winner of his first Grand Slam at the 2020 US Open, the Austrian had subsequently experienced an episode of depression. This unhappiness was clearly evident in his performances on the court, with results and performances far from his standards. Then came the wrist injury that kept him off the court for 9 long months. When he came back from this one, it was a series of defeats and first round eliminations on the ATP circuit. Realizing that he lacked confidence and feeling on the court, he went back to the drawing board last week by playing the Salzburg tournament on the Challenger Tour. A win in the first round and then elimination in the second, a week later, Thiem won again, but this time on the main circuit.