Thiem keeps Paris swansong alive in qualifying

Following a shaky start, Thiem reeled in the Italian 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to set a showdown against Finland’s Otto Virtanen.

These were the moments the Austrian was so keen to savour on his farewell tour following his struggles to rediscover his best after a career-altering right wrist injury suffered in 2021.

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“It’s very tough but probably in the beginning of this year or after Australia I tried one more time really to work hard to get back on track and at the end I saw that it's not going to happen, that I'm not going to be able to [reach] that level again,” Thiem said.

“Then I said, ‘yeah, I’m ready to enjoy one last year and then close the chapter of being a professional tennis player. It's not the end of life - that's a very good thing. I hope that something new exciting is coming and, yeah, I'm in that process right now.”

A back-to-back losing finalist to 14-time champion Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2019, Thiem had been earmarked to snare a major on the French clay but that instead came on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows in 2020.

From 2016 to 2020, Thiem reached the quarterfinals or better, a streak which stood tall among his proudest moments at Roland-Garros.

“I think definitely for the five years in a row where I made semis, semis, final, final and quarters, which is a great streak, which also feels now amazing to me, much better than it felt in 2020 or when I was in the middle of it,” Thiem told rolandgarros.com.

“Somehow I didn't realise it how well I was playing or how well I was playing specifically at this tournament. This is one thing and the other thing is I was always able to get the peak of my year around here, around Roland-Garros, I played great matches basically from the first round on.

“This I will for sure keep forever in my mind. In general, I have a great relationship to this tournament. It gave me many great memories from juniors on so I'm very happy about it.”

Krajinovic rebounds after broken finger

During a soul-searching six months on the sidelines at the end of last season, much like Thiem, former world No.26 Filip Krajinovic questioned his playing future.

It came on the heels of a difficult year in which form and injury battles seriously tested the Serbian’s resolve.

Despite a return to tour in 2024, the ensuing five months have hardly been smooth sailing, but a 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-1 victory over 20-year-old American Martin Damm Jr has gone a considerable way to restoring confidence.

“Last year, I stopped in June after Roland-Garros. I didn't play tennis for six months, then this year I came back and I broke my little finger on my right hand five, six weeks ago,” Krajinovic told rolandgarros.com.

“I couldn't really play tennis for five weeks so pretty much I was not even ready to come here but I love to play at Roland-Garros so I took my chance to be on the court. Whatever I do is a plus for me, so I'm happy that I found a way to win.” 

Krajinovic will next face 20-year-old compatriot Hamad Medjedovic, a later 6-3, 7-5 winner over French former world No.10 Lucas Pouille.

Like Thiem, he was playing with nothing to lose.

“Mentally I was tired, I wanted to be a little out of tennis to be with my family, friends last year,” he said. “I actually liked it. I was good and now it's time to come back. I'm not thinking too much. I'm just going week by week. If I enjoy it I will play, if not I think I had a good career.”

Fifteenth seed Medjedovic built on his third-round run in Rome to post the first victory under the new Court Suzanne-Lenglen roof.

Top-seeded Chilean and former world No.17 Cristian Garin was unable to book a return to the main draw after he succumbed to Frenchman Ugo Blanchet 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 at the first hurdle. Blanchet will meet Austrian Filip Misolic in the second round of qualifying.

Italian 18th seed Stefano Napolitano held off last year’s boys’ singles champion, Croatian 18-year-old Dino Prizmic, 7-6(2), 6-3 to set a second-round meeting with rising Japanese player Shintaro Mochizuki. The 20-year-old Mochizuki rebounded against Nick Hardt of the Dominican Republic 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.