French veteran Gael Monfils beat Dominic Thiem 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in the first round of the Mallorca Open, in what is likely to the Austrian’s last appearance in Spain as he retires from the sport later this year.
In the last warm-up tournament before Wimbledon next week, 37-year-old Monfils defeated the former US Open champion for the first time in his career, helped by a spectacular serving display where he only lost four points on his first serve, as well as hitting 13 aces and 25 winners.
Both players held serve well in the first set until Thiem threw in three unforced errors to lose the sixth game and hand the Frenchman the advantage, who sailed through in just 25 minutes. The second set was far closer with both men holding serve easily – apart from one game where Thiem recovered from 0-40. In the tie-break the Austrian once again committed unforced errors during critical moments, putting Monfils through to round two to play Roberto Carballes Baena.
Monfils thanked the crowd after his win: “It was a pleasure to play in front of you guys, thanks for coming out. Today was a good match, I served so good. Definitely it was a good match from my side.”
Meanwhile, at the same tournament where he injured his wrist three years ago, Thiem was presented with a commemorative shield by Toni Nadal in honour of his achievements in the sport.
“Thank you so much for the trophy, for the recognition, it really means a lot to me,” said Thiem on court. “I love Mallorca, I have been here many times before, twice at the tournament, it’s great. I really look forward to come back in the future, it’s such a nice club to enjoy sports here and to watch the tournament next year. Thank you so much for the support.”
In the first match of the day, Italian Fabio Fognini showed all his experience as he beat lucky loser Gijs Brouwer 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), and potentially faces defending champion Christopher Eubanks in the next round.
After a shaky start where he looked in slight discomfort walking between points, Fognini played through in familiar fashion: mixing regulation groundstroke errors along with superb winners. He came through a tough game in the first set when he was 0-40 down but pulled through winning five points in a row and regained confidence thereafter.
The pair traded breaks in the second set but in the tie-break, Fognini took the first mini-break and never looked back. He won the match after a superb rally where he slid at full stretch chasing a wide forehand and slipped, but still won the point when 28-year-old Brouwer missed a drop shot into the net.
Fognini has been on tour for the last 20 years and at the age of 37, his best tennis days are now behind him. When asked how much longer he plans to continue playing, he replied: “I am always happy after a win. It’s my first time here in Mallorca. Let’s see how it goes here and then next week in Wimbledon”
In other results, Sebastian Ofner beat home hope Juame Munar 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in an entertaining match lasting just over two hours. Munar won 79% of points behind first serves in the first set and broke serve twice, but Ofner hit back by improving his service percentages and taking both of his breakpoints to level the match at a set all before squeezing through in the final set tie-break where both players nervously made multiple unforced errors.
Results from other matches:
L. Daderi beat P. Martinez 7-5, 7-5
R. Hijikata beat L. Nardi 6-2, 2-6, 7-5
A Shevchenko beat C. Lestienne 7-5, 7-6
