Munich Open 2023: Thiem reaches second round after injured Lestienne retires

Thiem bagged a topsy-turvy opening set 6-3 in 35 minutes and was up Ad-40 on his own serve in the first game of the second set when Lestienne decided to retire from the match.

Austria’s Dominic Thiem celebrates during his first-round match against Constant Lestienne of France at the ATP250 event in Munich, Germany on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem progressed to second round of the Munich Open, an ATP250 event, on Tuesday after his opponent, Constant Lestienne of France, retired mid-match due to injury.

Austria’s Thiem bagged a topsy-turvy opening set 6-3 in 35 minutes and was up Ad-40 on his own serve in the first game of the second set when the Frenchman decided to retire from the match.

Former World No.3 Thiem had a wrist injury in 2021 which ruled him out for nine months and saw his ranking slip to number 352 last June.

Since his comeback, the 29-year-old has reached the semifinals of three Tour-level events. His current ranking is 101 and he is third on the list of alternates for main draw of French Open, a Major at which he has finished as runner-up twice.

Thiem recently split with coach Nicolas Massu and joined up with Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh. Looking for his first title since the 2020 US Open crown, the Austrian will face Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler in the second round in Munich. Huesler beat Kyle Edmund 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3 in his tournament opener.

In the other first-round fixtures, Oscar Otte won 6-3, 7-5 against fifth seed Sebastian Baez, Alexander Ritschard defeated Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinalist Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-5, Marton Fucsovics beat Max Hans Rehberg 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 and Christopher O’Connell prevailed 6-4, 6-4 against Ugo Humbert.

Danish teenager Holger Rune, who reached the final in Monte Carlo last week, is the defending champion and top seed. Rune, awarded a bye, begins his campaign against Yannick Hanfmann in the second round.