Dominic Thiem out of French Open as Nadal and Djokovic’s main threat suffers early exit

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have lost their main rival at the French Open as Dominic Thiem was surprisingly beaten in the first round at Roland Garros by Pablo Andujar. The Spaniard came from two sets down to win 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

World no 68 Andujar stunned the 4^th-ranked Thiem, who was expected to challenge Nadal and Djokovic in the latter stages of the tournament.

The 27-year-old would have had a strong chance of reaching the final as Djokovic and Nadal could face each other in the semi-final if both players go far enough.

“I’m 35 and I’m not sure I will have many more moments like this,” Andujar said in his native Spanish in the aftermath.

Thiem had been in poor form heading into this tournament but was still expected to do well.

Brit Cameron Norrie defeated the Austrian 6-3, 6-2 in the last-16 at the recent Lyon Open.

Nadal’s coach Francisco Roig said Thiem was among the closest challengers to the favourites.

Roig claimed that there was little difference between Thiem and Djokovic on clay.

“Novak Djokovic is still the rival, perhaps, who can cause more problems, along with Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem.

“Of course, if Dominic Thiem regains the rhythm and confidence that he usually shows on clay, I would say that I do not see differences between him and Djokovic.

“Since he won the US Open he has dropped a bit, but I’m sure that for Roland Garros he will be at the necessary level and will be a very tough opponent.

“He is a very complete player, who demands a lot in each hit, if you leave the ball a little short, the point is over. On a physical level he is very demanding.”

Nadal is favourite to win a 14^th French Open. Success at Roland Garros would earn him a fifth consecutive title at the tournament.

The Spaniard plays Alexei Popyrin in the first round and a win would set up a second-round tie against either two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Richard Gasquet or Hugo Gaston.

“You can win Roland Garros after winning events before and you can win Roland Garros without winning events before. I want to win events before Roland Garros because I like winning them,” Nadal said before the tournament started on Sunday.

“Of course, it’s easier to win Roland Garros when you have won events in a row before during the clay-court season, as I’ve done throughout my career.

“But at the same time I’m nearly 35 and my situation is a little bit different. The main goal for me is to give myself a chance. I want to give myself chances to be competitive in every single event.”

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