Thiem’s current ranking is 112, which does not do justice to the great achievements of the former world number 3 with his 17 ATP titles, including one grand slam (US Open, 2020) in the past. Thiem has had a serious wrist injury that has dropped him far in the world rankings and is currently working hard on his comeback. Umag seems to be the perfect place for him, because he has never lost a match here! He also won in his first round match against Facundo Bagnis. That was not easy, by the way, because the Argentinian put up strong resistance, but eventually had to capitulate against the Austrian veteran (6-4; 7-5). Thiem was strongly supported by the Croatian public, because the sympathetic Austrian is still very popular here.
The battle between the Australian Alexei Popyrin and the Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi was a similar one. After the win in the first set, Popeyrin seemed to take control of the match in the second set, but the tough Frenchman managed to get rid of a match point five times. Even with a 40-0 lead at 5-4 in favour of the Australian, Bonzi did not want to give way and equalized the score to 5-5. The Australian turned out to be cut from the same cloth and was certainly not mentally broken by the missed opportunities. He won the next two games and the victory was still his (6-4; 7-5).
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