Dominic Thiem lost to John Millman 3-6, 6-3, 4-6 in his first match of the Serbia Open

Dominic Thiem‘s comeback to the professional ATP tour after a long break didn’t quite go as planned. The former World No.3 lost to unseeded John Millman in three sets and didn’t seem to be anywhere close to his best.

Before his match in the Challenger series last month, Thiem had not played on the ATP tour since June 2021. His last event was at Mallorca when he sustained a right wrist which put him out for the rest of the season. The Austrian attempted to begin his 2022 season afresh in Cordoba last month but suffered a separate right finger issue involving a strained ligament. Thiem then delayed his return further by withdrawing from the two ATP-1000 events – Indian Wells and Miami Open in favour of making a return on his preferred clay surface.

However, his plans were hampered after he tested positive for covid-19 last week. He recovered in time for the Serbia Open but clearly looked out of rhythm and touched and succumbed to a disappointing loss.

Fans react to Dominic Thiem loss

Thiem fans are understandably disappointed with the result. They were elated to see their favourite player in action after such a long time but this is certainly not how it was expected to pan out.

“Dramatic improvement from his last match..Surprisingly His BH was better than his FH..With matches he is gonna get the confidence and power back”, tweeted a fan who is positive about Thiem’s chances in the upcoming tournaments.

Fans were evidently disappointed with the loss and feared a further drop in rank for Thiem. “Sadly he’ll leave the top 90 next week, and potentially leaves top 150 if he fails to defend Madrid. Hopefully he can recover some points in Estoril”, wrote a fan.

A hopeful fan tweeted, “Yes, Thiem is getting his game together, Still plenty of time until Paris.”

“Don’t worry Domi , we still support you”, tweeted a fan conveying his unconditional support for Thiem.

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