ARGENTINA: After a disappointing start of the season at the Australian Open, Dominic Thiem of Austria registered his first win of 2023, beating Slovakia's Alex Molcan 7-6(4), 6-3 in the Round-of-32 of the Argentina Open, here.
Former World No. 3 will next face Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas, who earned a 6-2, 7-5 win against Joao Sousa earlier on Tuesday. Third seed Lorenzo Musetti will be a potential third-round opponent at the ATP 250 tournament.
"I won my first match of the season against a very good opponent. I stayed focussed throughout the whole match, as well in the difficult moments. So I'm happy and I'm trying to focus fully on the second round now, " the 2020 US Open champion was quoted as saying by the ATP tour.
Thiem and Molcan traded breaks from 5-5 in the opening set, with Thiem racing to a 5/1 lead in the tie-break after failing to serve out the set. The 29-year-old Austrian did not face a break point in set two as he improved to 12-1 with the victory.
Thiem won the Buenos Aires title in 2016 and 2018. But the Austrian had a forgetful start to the season as he crashed out of the Australian Open in the first round after suffering a defeat at the hands of Andrey Rublev.