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Number one seed Dominic Thiem falls in round of 16 in Lyon

By Justin Gincauskas

ROME, ITALY - MAY 12: Dominic Thiem of Austria reacts to a missed chance on day 5 of the the Internazionali BNL d’Italia match between Dominic Thiem of Austria and Marton Fucsovics of Hungary at Foro Italico on May 12, 2021 in Rome, Italy. Sporting stadiums around Italy remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY - MAY 12: Dominic Thiem of Austria reacts to a missed chance on day 5 of the the Internazionali BNL d’Italia match between Dominic Thiem of Austria and Marton Fucsovics of Hungary at Foro Italico on May 12, 2021 in Rome, Italy. Sporting stadiums around Italy remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) /
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In a shocking upset, number one seed and current world number four Dominic Thiem fell to Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday.

In Thiem’s first match of the Lyon tournament, he was unable to get into much of a rhythm, and was heavily outplayed by Norrie, who took the match in straight sets in just over an hour. The biggest issue for Thiem was his first serve points won, where he only won 57% of the points on his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats. On the other side, Norrie was dominant with his first serve, winning 91% of the time when getting the first serve in. It was Norrie’s first win against Thiem in his career, after losing the first meeting back in 2018.

For Norrie, this is the biggest win of his career, as this is the first time he has won against a player ranked inside the top five in the world. His previous best result was against John Isner in 2018, when Isner had a ranking of 10 in the world at the time.

For Thiem, this has got to be a concern heading into the French Open, which is just over a week away. Thiem has yet to make it to a final in a tournament in 2021 and has won two matches in a row only twice all year. Last week in Rome, Thiem won his first match against Marton Fucsovics, only to lose in the next round to Italian Lorenzo Sonego. His best result in 2021 came in Madrid earlier this month, where he ended up losing in the semifinals to good friend Alexander Zverev. As Thiem’s struggles continue in 2021, it will be difficult for him to turn it around quickly for the French Open at the end of the month in order to make a deep run.

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