They have a mean sense of humor at the US Open when it comes to scheduling games. Holger Rune, for example, placed fourth in this tournament, put a map of the tennis facility on X, with the note: “If you find place 5: I will play my first game there this year.” This 5th place is the least popular in Flushing Meadows, sandwiched between Courts 4 and 6, five training courts and the Grandstand, and that leads to Dominic Thiem: The 2020 winner wasn’t allowed to play his first game at Arthur Ashe Stadium, that was the first Day reserved for favorites Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic and American hopes Frances Tiafoe and Coco Gauff. He wasn’t allowed to go to the Louis Armstrong Stadium because the Grand Slam winners Caroline Wozniacki, Sloane Stephens and Victoria Azarenka as well as the Americans Taylor Fritz and Steve Johnson were supposed to attract people.
So Thiem was not allowed to return to the place of the greatest triumph, but had to play where he had experienced his most dramatic defeat in 2017: 6: 1, 6: 2 he had led against Juan Martín del Potro – and lost. Also because the Argentine fans had turned the stadium into a bullfighting arena. “It was very bitter. You never forget something like that, although I also won a few games on the pitch,” he said now, and you could see what happened to Thiem before his game against 25th seed Kazakh Alexander Bublik while warming up , may well be interpreted as a commentary on this position: He emptied the contents of his stomach. Of course it wasn’t, Thiem suffers from stomach problems, which is why he canceled participation in the preparatory tournament in Winston-Salem: “The stomach is a bit offended, but my team assured me that it was nothing unusual.”
So the question: what kind of Dominic Thiem would compete in New York? Eight times this season he had already lost in the first round; he had only made it past the second round three times – most recently at the home tournament in Kitzbühel, where he reached his first final of the year. So now in New York against the gambler Bublik, who can fool the best in the world on good days, as in June with the success in Halle, with victories against Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Andrej Rublev – but on bad days fooling himself might?
The second version could be admired on Monday afternoon. Serves from below, snibble basic hits and daring stops were invitations to attack for Thiem, who easily won this game 6: 3, 6: 2, 6: 4. Bublik was so annoyed by this that he let himself be carried away to make this comment in the middle of the second sentence – also alluding to the fact that he had recently lost at the tournament in Toronto against Gaël Monfils, who, like Thiem, had been injured for a long time: “I really don’t feel like it anymore, To enable disabled people to continue their careers.”
Thiem did not want to comment further on the statement: “What should I say about it?” He preferred to talk about his first victory in a Grand Slam tournament since early 2021 – yes, it really was that long ago. Thiem was injured in the joint of the batting hand for a long time, but he was more struggling with the psychological aspects of the comeback: “As a tennis player or athlete in general, it wasn’t that great, but I learned a lot as a person and certainly don’t want to miss this time. But the fact is that reaching the final in Kitzbühel shows that something could still be possible – and that’s why this first success in a Grand Slam tournament after five defeats in the first round means a lot to me, especially here in New York “, where there are so many memories, both good and bitter. I’m feeling very good with my tennis right now, I didn’t have that feeling a few weeks ago. So the goal is already: I want to really ignite one more time at a big tournament .”
Ultimately, these are the decisive questions for Thiem, who will celebrate his 30th birthday on September 3rd: How well can he play – and what does he still have in mind in the last third of his career? The answer to the first, despite or maybe because of the stomach problems: Thiem seemed fit and happy to play; the forehand was powerful and yet safe. “I noticed in the training sessions that I feel safe from the baseline. You can see that on the return, which was very good today – and which I urgently need in the next round against these serves.” He meets the young American star Ben Shelton (21 years old), who reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and has now managed 28 service winners in an easy opening win: “I have to get the returns into the field and get into the rallies.”
If those responsible for the US Open continue to plan the tournament as before – Americans and legends in the two big stadiums – this second-round game is a hot candidate for Wednesday afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium – the place of the greatest triumph in Thiem’s career: “There’s an incredible energy in New York. It takes you away. It only gets a bit much at the end of the two weeks.”
Of course it’s not that far yet, and for the sake of completeness: Holger Rune will no longer complain about the fixtures this year – he lost his game in 5th place.