Paris dream evaporates for Thiem with loss in qualies

Dominic Thiem’s dream of reaching the Roland Garros main draw for a final time before his retirement in the autumn was crushed on Wednesday with a 6-2, 7-5 loss in qualifying rounds to Finn Otto Virtanen.

A full house on the Lenglen showcourt gave the 30-year-old Austrian an emotional send off as he played his last match at the venue.

Thiem, who reached a career-high ranking of world No. 3 and played French Open finals in 2018 and 2019, has been unable to recover his form after a 2021 wrist injury.

He will pack in his career in October at his home ATP event in Vienna and was presented with a trophy by TD Amelie Mauresmo after the match.

A video of his career highlights was shown on the stadium screen.

“It was such a great farewell,” the No. 131 said. “There is a really special relationship with this tournament. 

“I played finals in the juniors and slowly built up a great relationship with the tournament and fans. I had some great results, so many great memories and experiences here on these courts. 

“It is the Grand Slam with my best results, so I really enjoyed every single year of it.”