Mannarino Advances In Mallorca After Thiem Retires
Dominic Thiem’s grass-court debut at the Mallorca Championships was cut short after the second seed was forced to retire against Adrian Mannarino, after leading 5-2 in the first set on Tuesday.
The reigning US Open champion was playing in his first grass-court event since 2019 at Wimbledon, and arrived in Mallorca looking for momentum after a first-round exit at Roland Garros (l. to Andjuar).
Thiem came into the matchup with Mannarino with an 8-0 edge in their ATP Head2Head, contesting their first grass-court match.
He looked set to extend his lead after making a fast start on centre court, powering his way to 5-2 and closing in on the first set. But at 15/0, the Austrian struck a forehand and appeared to injure his right wrist. After receiving a medical time out, Thiem retired from the match after 35 minutes played.
[WATCH LIVE 2]“It’s nice for me to be in the quarter-finals, but winning this way is not so cool. I really like Dominic, he’s such a nice guy and I hope he will be feeling better soon,” Mannarino said in an on-court interview. “I hope it is not so serious, especially right before Wimbledon.
“I’ve never beat him in the past and obviously he was leading in the scoreboard… I think I was playing okay until Dominic had to stop. I hope he is going to be okay and that I can make a good result here.”
Mannarino advanced to the quarter-finals in Mallorca, where he awaits the winner between 39-year-old Feliciano Lopez and sixth seed Karen Khachanov.