A marathon five-hour five-setter wrapped up an action-packed journey at Margaret Court Arena at the hands of World No. 30 Felix Auger-Aliassime and Austrian Dominic Thiem, who entered the main draw following Reilly Opelka’s retirement.
There were no favorites beforehand, both coming back from injuries, both top players looking to recover lost ground.
The high-level encounter later proved little would separate the contenders, but this is tennis, and only one player gets to keep his chances alive.
The 23-year-old maximized his chances when it mattered most, claiming a 6-3, 7-5, 6-7(5), 5-7, 6-3 hard-earned win that those in the crowd who stayed past 1 a.m. in Melbourne celebrated.
In his on-court interview, the 27th seed commented: “[There’s] a lot of relief. It’s crazy, in these matches, you go through really all the emotions.
“It was a great match, and I started well. Then, this sport, sometimes it sucks. You’re trying your best, and he also played well. It was a struggle for me.”
On Wednesday, he will face French qualifier Hugo Grenier, who rallied to overcome compatriot Alexandre Muller 2-6, 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(7).
Assessing the first-round clash, he outlined: “At the end, I didn’t want to fail mentally. I didn’t want to disappoint myself with my effort or have any regrets when leaving this court today.
“It was frustrating, the way it went in that third set. I thought, ‘You need to be tough, you need to stay strong,’ and I’m happy I did because now I’m really happy.”
On Monday night, he came out strong, taking the first two sets solid behind his serve, substantially more effective than his adversary, who committed 30 unforced errors to 17 from the Canadian player.
Nonetheless, Thiem, a former US Open champion, is well known for his tennis and outstanding resilience; going down without a proper fight was never an option.
A tight third set saw the former world number three saved a critical breakpoint in the ninth game, moving on to force a tiebreaker.
The Montreal native earned a 5-2 lead, walking toward a three-set victory, but in a blink of an eye, the Austrian scored five consecutive points to steal the set 7-6(5) after 73 minutes.
Confident, the 30-year-old hit back the court, breaking to open play and holding onto his advantage for much of the fourth set.
However, on the 10th game, he suffered a scare when Frederic Fontang’s pupil converted his first break point to level up at 5-5 after he missed a smash. And the World No. 92 reacted fast, breaking straight back to close out 7-5, sending the match to a decider.
The physical contest took a toll on both players, poising a physical and mental challenge ahead of a fifth set, over four hours of play and counting.
Then, Auger-Aliassime’s serve came to the rescue, winning 94 percent of the first serve points at an average speed of 200 (km/h).
Moreover, he converted the only break point of the set in the second game, proven critical to open a 3-0 lead, opening the way to build an advantage his opponent failed to narrow.
Despite the defeat, Thiem did play well, and he could have won trailing from two sets down, and he would have deserved it as much as his rival.
Last season, the Canadian player struggled to find consistency and stay healthy, dealing with multiple injuries.
However, he finished the season on a high, capturing his lone title of the year at the ATP 500, Swiss Indoors Basel.
In January, Canada debuted at the United Cup with Auger-Aliassime on the bench, having not played a match at tour level in over two months due to a knee injury, which forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon.
At the team event, the 5-time ATP titlist felt pain again in the same area, contesting just one mixed doubles match, which he lost.
A week later, he suffered an early exit at the ASB Classic in Auckland, falling to German Daniel Altmaier in the lead-up to the AO.