Dominic Thiem said Hugo Gaston was a difficult opponent in the Gstaad first round and admitted the match could have easily gone the Frenchman’s way. On Tuesday, Thiem recovered from a set down to edge out Gaston 1-6 6-1 7-6 (7) and progress into the Gstaad last-16.
In the third set tie-break, Thiem won three consecutive points to open a 6-5 lead. After losing three consecutive points, Gaston won the following two points to save Thiem’s match point and to earn his first match point.
On Gaston’s match point, Thiem hit a strong return as Gaston didn’t succeed in his attempt to finish the match with a serve-and-volley. After saving Gaston’s match point, Thiem quickly earned his second match point – which he realized to complete a big comeback victory after two hours of play.
Thiem: The third set could have gone either way
“It’s always really challenging. That tie-break in the third set was very, very tough,” Thiem said after the win, per the ATP website. “The first two sets were very one-sided, the first for Hugo and the second for me.
Then the third set, no breaks so the tie-break had to decide it. Tie-breaks in deciding sets are always somehow 50/50. It was so close. Really happy that I got the win.” Thiem, 28, is playing in Gstaad for the third time in his career and for the first time since 2015.
After beating Gaston, Thiem admitted he was having difficulties adjusting to the Gstaad altitude. “I had some troubles to get used to the conditions,” Theim admitted. “Also he played well. [He was a] finalist last year so he gave me a lot of troubles.
When I made that first break in the second set, from then on I loosened up a little bit. I started to play better and better and it paid off at the end.” Thiem plays Federico Delbonis in the Gstaad round-of-16.
