In Bastad, Sweden, a city with no night in summer, it was light and busy outside when Dominic Timm got up at 3:30 a.m. to go to the bathroom. Tim said that he had never experienced anything like this, and that the bright town had brought Tim out of the darkness for a while.
In the 16th of 32 at the ATP250 bastad yesterday, timm scored a 2-1 comeback win over world number 43, emil rusuvoli of Finland. His last ATP Tour victory, in Rome in May 2021, was 14 months ago. 426 days, to be exact.
After Rome last year, Thiem suffered consecutive first-round exits in Lyon and the French Open, where he is good, and also retired in Mallorca with a wrist injury against Mannarino. Tim struggled with injuries for a long time, with recurring and aggravating injuries that delayed his return.
He also missed last year's Wimbledon, The Olympics and the chance to defend his U.S. Open title in New York. After missing the Australian Open earlier this year on injury, Thiem made a comeback in Belgrade in April, but lost 2-1 to Australia's Milman in the first round. Tim then suffered at Estoril, Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros, and skipped the just-concluded Wimbledon.
The former US Open champion, two-time French Open runner-up and once Australian Open runner-up, who reached no. 3 in the world, has dropped to 339 in the world rankings as long-term injuries have left him out of rhythm.
But yesterday's victory in Bastad will certainly give the Austrians confidence to come out of the gloom. Tim struggled in the first set, losing 3-6 despite his touch and ability to place small balls on the familiar clay court. From the second set on, the Austrian gradually found his touch and took the match 6-1 to a decider. In the tiebreak of the third set, Tim finally saved match point by a double fault of his opponent.
Speaking after the match, Tim said of his hard-won victory: "It's been a long time, it's been a tough win. I was very passive at the beginning of the match today, but I came back in the last two sets. I was a little nervous, but I managed to control my emotions well. Luckily it was a double fault that gave me the win and I really needed it."
Tim also said he is a big fan of Scandinavia and has been to Iceland on holiday before, as well as Denmark and Finland. But it was his first time in Sweden and he loved the scenery and coastline.
In the next round, Tim will face the tournament's fourth seed bautista Agut. The schedule is getting tougher, but Tim wants to stay on the books for as long as possible.