In a tournament filled with thrills and spills, fourth-ranked ATP player Dominic Thiem lost in the US Open first round against 87th ranked Italian Thomas Fabbiano.
The match started with Fabbiano narrowly winning the first set 6-4 after 38th minute of play. A determined Thiem, looking to get back on track, leveled the playing field after another 35 minutes by clinching the second set 6-3. This was as good as things would get for the Austrian, however, as the Italian underdog proceeded to win both the third and fourth sets 6-3 and 6-2 respectively.
While the 25-year-old Thiem has performed erratically at this year’s Grand Slam competitions, he has enjoyed a prosperous tennis season overall, winning the ATP Masters 1000 event at Indian Wells along with the Barcelona Open and the Kitzbuhel Open tournaments. These performances, along with his journey to the French Open final, are what lifted him to an esteemed fourth place in this year’s rankings.
While many of the women’s top seeds have also endured early exits from the competition, things have mostly gone according to plan for the other top male contenders. Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal are all still in with a chance, while eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and 10th seed Roberto Bautista Agut will both be catching an early flight home along with Thiem.
