Sixth seed Dominic Thiem ended Steve Johnson’s brave run at Roland Garros with a 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over the American in the third round on Friday.
It has been an emotional week in Paris for Johnson, whose father recently passed away. The American wept on court after his four-set battle with Borna Coric in the second round, and was embraced by Thiem as the Austrian ended his run on Court 1.
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Last year’s semi-finalist, Thiem earned his second win over Johnson in two hours and three minutes. The right-hander hit 45 winners and converted four of his 15 break points to record his 32nd match win of the season.
"I think it was a good match today, and he had a bad start," said Thiem. "He had two really tough matches, so I think maybe he was a little bit tired in the beginning, so the first set was pretty fast.
"Then he started to play well. Probably the second-set tie-break that I won was the key for the following match.
"It's really tragedy what happened. You wish it on nobody. Especially him. He's a very, very nice guy. It was, of course, very emotional for him. It also shows that there are way more important things than tennis. I think it was unbelievable tough for him to even play here."
The 23-year-old Thiem came into Roland Garros as one of the form players on clay. The Austrian, who reached his first Grand Slam semi-final in Paris last year (l. to Djokovic), made the finals in Barcelona and Madrid (l. to Nadal both times) and became the only player to beat Nadal on the dirt this season when he defeated the Spaniard to reach the Rome semi-finals (l. to Djokovic).
"He's a great tennis player," said Johnson of Thiem. "I would assume clay is his best surface. I think he would probably say the same. He causes a lot of problems, which is great for him; tough to play against for me. But it was a win for me through and through for me this week, 100 per cent.
"It's like a family down in the locker room. You get a lot of great people. We're competitors. Trust me. I wanted to win just as bad as he did today. It didn't matter the circumstances. But there's life outside of sport and he gets that.
"He's a standup guy. I've always enjoyed practising with him, playing with him. He's got a very bright future, even though he's a Top 10 guy already and very successful. For him to win this tournament one day is not long off, I don't think. He's a great tennis player."
Next up for Thiem will be a first-time meeting with Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos, who benefitted from an unfortunate retirement for David Goffin in their third-round contest.
Goffin, the No. 10 seed and 2016 quarter-finalist, suffered a freak accident. Serving at 4-5, Ad-out in the first set, after 47 minutes of play, Goffin went to retrieve a ball from well behind the baseline and got his right foot caught on the tarpaulin cover at the back of the court. The Belgian twisted his ankle and appeared to be in severe discomfort.
After a medical time-out of 10 minutes, it was clear that Goffin could not continue and Zeballos was awarded the match. Zeballos insisted that he would take Goffin’s bag off the court and into the locker room.
Heavy heart for 🇧🇪@David__Goffin, retires from @RolandGarros due to injury.
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 2, 2017
🇦🇷 @HoracioZeballos to play 🇦🇹@ThiemDomi/🇺🇸@SJohnson_89 winner. pic.twitter.com/48XN1FKNO5
"He had an MRI, and the news is reassuring," said Goffin's coach, Thierry Cleemput, who came to press in Goffin's place. "There is no tearing of the ligaments and no bone that's been broken, either. That's the only thing we can say. We can't say much more. There is an edema, and in 48 hours we will see how things go on.
"The doctors were incredible with him. They contacted David's doctor. They agree as to the procedure to follow, and we decided to have emergency treatment to start with so that he can come back as quickly as possible. I don't know how he feels now. I suppose that now that we have got reassuring news for him, he's going to have more smiles on his face."
"I'm very sad for him. He's a great person," said Zeballos, who is through to the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time. "I played against him many times. He always was really nice with me. I hope he can come back as soon as possible because I always enjoy when he's playing because he's a nice player.
“I don't know what to feel. Of course, one part I'm a little happy because it's my best tournament. But also I'm sad for him. Like I said before, he's a really nice person. So it's like mixed emotions.”
Go inside the tournament at RolandGarros.com.