Thiem takes welcome win over punching bag Sousa

Dominic Thiem pounced upon longtime victim Joao Sousa on Monday, crushing  the Portuguese  6-2, 6-0 to advance to the second round of a new ATP event in Gion.

The Spanish spanking took just 62 minutes, with the former world No. 3 Austrian breaking five times and never facing a break point.

Sousa has now lost seven of eight matches against Thiem in a series which has not been played since 2016.

Thiem, winner of the 2020 US Open, has been struggling for more than a year after a wrist and other injuries to try and get his game back on track.

He currently stands 165th and is playing this week on a protected ranking in the event brought onto the calendar to make up for the absence this autumn of Chinese tournaments.

The 29-year-old Thiem is still working to pull his match record level this season, now standing 12-13, with a Gstaad semi-final in July his highlight showing.

Dominic Thiem pounced upon longtime victim Joao Sousa on Monday, crushing  the Portuguese  6-2, 6-0 to advance to the second round of a new ATP event in Gion.

The Spanish spanking took just 62 minutes, with the former world No. 3 Austrian breaking five times and never facing a break point.

Sousa has now lost seven of eight matches against Thiem in a series which has not been played since 2016.

Thiem, winner of the 2020 US Open, has been struggling for more than a year after a wrist and other injuries to try and get his game back on track.

He currently stands 165th and is playing this week on a protected ranking in the event brought onto the calendar to make up for the absence this autumn of Chinese tournaments.

The 29-year-old Thiem is still working to pull his match record level this season, now standing 12-13, with a Gstaad semi-final in July his highlight showing.

Thiem was pleased after scoring one of the most clop-sided victories of his career.

The only other time he lost this few games was nine years ago in Vienna against Jaroslav Pospisil.

“It was a great match for the first time in ages I had the feeling that the ratio between unforced errors and playing really aggressive, was right,” the Austrian said.

“The forehand was really good for the first time (since his injury).

“The direction is right, I maintained focus from the first to the last point – I’ll try to keep going that way.”

Thiem said he is working towards ending the season inside the Top 100.

“I’ll try to go on court the same way as today as it was very, very good. It helps that I have a big goal in mind.

“I need good matches, I need victories, I still need quite a lot of ranking) points.

“I hope I can continue that way on Wednesday (second round).”