Thiem digs deep in Estoril for first ATP Tour win of 2024

Dominic Thiem battled hard to clinch an opening win Monday at the Millennium Estoril Open.

The Austrian notched a 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-4 victory against Maximilian Marterer on Monday to reach the second round at the Portuguese ATP 250. After he made a fast start to the match, Thiem recovered well from a disappointing second-set tie-break display to claim his second tour-level win of the year following a Davis Cup victory for Austria in February.

“It was good. Also, the past two years I played here, I like the conditions,” said Thiem after improving to 3-2 overall at the clay-court event. “I came here early to prepare for the tournament and it paid off. It was a great match, a great first set. Second set, Max started to play way better and it became a very open match, a great battle. I’m really happy that it went my way in the end.”

That's how you seal the match 🤩@domithiem notches his first victory of 2024 after knocking out Marterer 6-1 6-7(3) 6-4.@EstorilOpen | #EstorilOpen pic.twitter.com/KQxPX0pcyc

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 1, 2024

Thiem converted six of 12 break points he earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to improving his Lexus ATP Head2Head lead against Marterer to 3-0. The 17-time tour-level titlist will next take on a fellow former Top 10 star, Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Prior to the tournament, Thiem had announced on social media that he was going to train with reduced intensity after he suffered a minor recurrence of his old wrist injury that sidelined him for nine months across 2021 and 2022. He did not appear in any discomfort during his two-hour, 15-minute clash with Marterer.

“[I’m going] to listen a bit to my body,” said Thiem. “To really take care that there is nothing coming up, no problems for the wrist. I cut down the intensity of my practice a little bit, but I’ve had enough practice in my life. I can handle it if it’s a little bit less.”

Another former Top 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Roberto Bautista Agut, also booked his second-round spot on Monday. The Spaniard downed sixth seed Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 7-5 for his first win against a Top 50 opponent since the first week of the season in Hong Kong.

National hero Nuno Borges lost the first eight games of his match against former Top 10 star Lucas Pouille, but rallied past the Frenchman 0-6, 7-6(6), 6-3. The Portuguese player won all but two of his service points in the deciding set to advance after two hours and 21 minutes.

Borges advanced to the fourth round of this year's Australian Open and later won the ATP Challenger Tour event in Phoenix.