MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Andrey Rublev beat wild-card entry Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday to advance to the second round of the Australian Open.
Thiem, a runner-up at the Australian Open in 2020 and the U.S. Open winner the same year, missed much of 2021 due to injuries but has recovered from outside the top 350 last year to a place just inside the top 100. He was given a wild-card entry by tournament organizers.
"When you see you have to play against Dominic you know it's not going to be easy. I know he's going through some not easy times so I wish him all the best to come back to the level he can be as fast as possible," Rublev said.
Rublev will next play either the Australian qualifier Max Purcell or Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland.
Thiem had treatment to his abdominal muscles midway through the second set but said it was not serious and he was not disheartened by his performance.
"This tournament doesn't change anything because I just had a really tough opponent," he said. "I hope that I can improve the results at the South American clay."