Former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem admitted he was “super happy” after clinching his first win on hard in a year and a half. On Monday, Thiem saved two match points to edge out American J.J. Wolf 6-7 (5) 7-5 7-6 (6) in the Winston-Salem Open first round.
“First of all I’m super happy to get that win, [my] first win on hard courts since a very long time, since March ’21, I guess. It was not easy at all today with the rain delay, coming back out there at 11:15 p.m.
It was very late. I had trouble [getting] into the match again,” Thiem said, per the ATP website. “But luckily I raised the level a little bit in the third-set tie-break and compared to Kitzbühel, where similar stuff happened with the rain, the luck was on my side today.”
Thiem on what he told himself down by two match points
“I told myself, ‘It’s 4/6, now or never,'” Thiem said. “I released a little bit and it went perfectly. Four winners in a row from 4/6 to 8/6.”
Wolf earned the first break of the match in the fourth game, but Thiem broke back in the seventh game. As no more breaks were seen, the first set went into a tie-break. In the tie-break, Wolf opened a 6-3 lead before realizing his third set point to win a tight opener.
After breaking Wolf in the eighth game of the second set, Thiem failed to serve out for the set in the ninth game. But Thiem broke Wolf once again in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead, before serving out for the set in his second attempt.
In the third set, Thiem broke Wolf in the sixth game but got broken back in the seventh game. As no more breaks were seen, a second tie-break was seen. Wolf had a 6-4 lead and two match points, before Thiem won the next four points to escape with a tight win.
