Dominic Thiem advanced to the second round of the European Open. After a very exciting match, the Austrian won over Luca Nardi. Young Belgian Alexander Blockx played his first match of the maindraw against Yannick Hanfmann, but narrowly lost after an exciting match. “The crowd propelled me forward. I can leave the European Open with my head held high after three days of good tennis”, Blockx said. Thibo Colson and Zizou Bergs were also in action on Tuesday. They played Matwe Middelkoop and Andreas Mies, but had to acknowledge their superiority in three sets after a hard-fought match.
Dominic Thiem, former world number three, played his first match of the tournament on Center Court. The 2020 U.S. Open winner faced Luca Nardi. The still only 20-year-old Italian received a wildcard for this tournament and fought his way through the qualifiers. In the first set, he quickly pulled the sheet with some very clever points. It was 6-3. At a 2-2 score in the second set, Nardi was able to exploit break ball four: 3-2. The tension continued to mount as Thiem tackled over and climbed 5-6 and 0-30 into the lead. Thiem was two points from set win but Nardi fought back and won his serve game. In the tiebreak, Thiem did not give away a 1-4 bonus again, it eventually became 6-7(9). In the third set, Thiem was able to break immediately in the first game. He pushed through and it eventually became 2-6 in the final set.
Alexander Blockx faced Center Court for the third day in a row. This time, the young Belgian took on the tournament’s fifth seed: Yannick Hanfmann. Blockx needed some time to get up to speed. An early break soon put him in a losing position. Hanfmann did not relinquish this and served out the first set 4-6. In the second set, the two players were very much matched. With a score of 6-6 and a tiebreak, it was make or break for Blockx. Hanfmann proved just a little more dominant and won the tiebreak: Blockx could not reverse a 0-4 deficit. 6-7(3). “The crowd pushed me forward, but my opponent returned surprisingly deep in the first game. I failed to get a break today, but I can still leave the tournament with my head held high after three days of good tennis. I hope to be there again next year”, Blockx said after his match.
Richard Gasquet, winner of the 2016 European Open, played his opening match against Maximilian Marterer. Both players kept each other well balanced The German who is ranked number 127 in the world had enough in two sets to knock the 2016 winner out of the tournament: 3-6 and 4-6.
On Court 1, Belgian players Thibo Colson and Zizou Bergs faced a tough challenge in the form of Dutch duo Middelkoop and German Andreas Mies. The match was evenly matched and eventually the decisive supertie break became a real nail-biter. The Belgians were unable to cash in on their set ball and went down narrowly. Set scores: 4-6, 7-6(8), and 6-10.
The Tsitsipas brothers took on the duo of Reyes-Varela and Vega Hernandez in the opening match. In the first set, things went even for a long time. Neither duo conceded and it came to a tiebreak. A quick 4-1 deficit shook the Tsitsipas brothers awake and they still managed to win the tiebreak 9-7. Same story in set two. The Spanish-Mexican duo did not let their heads down and fought for what they were worth. With a score of 6-6, it was time for another tiebreak. This time the Tsitsipas brothers made short work of it and won 7-2.
