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Bernard Tomic will look to put a horrific first half of 2017 behind him and cause a major upset in the first round of the French Open when he takes on the powerful and in-form Dominic Thiem. Join The Roar for live scores from around 10:30pm (AEST).
The Australian has struggled big time in 2017. His fitness has been below par, he has pulled out of matches and generally looked to be drained both mentally and physically.
Playing on his least favourite surface isn’t exactly going to improve that mindset either, as has been proven right throughout the clay court season.
He has won just three of eight matches and dropped badly to players he should have been beating comfortably. His last two losses in Madrid and Rome headline it as well, with both Ryan Harrison and Jan-Lennard Struff getting over Tomic comfortably.
His horrendous form, which began with a third-round exit at the Australian Open to Daniel Evans has Tomic sitting outside the seedings and starting to drop down the ATP rankings at an alarming rate.
He has always struggled on clay though, unlike his opponent for this first round match Dominic Thiem who can put it on his resume that he is the only player to defeat Rafael Nadal since the clay court season started.
While he has lost some other matches he should have won, that’s a remarkable thing to be able to say heading into the second grand slam of the year, and his chances of marching over Tomic appear close to certain.
Given Thiem’s power, particularly in his first serve, combined with an ability to play long points, it makes Clay by far his best surface where he won more than 70 per cent of career matches.
While he is yet to win a title during the clay court season, he has made two finals and shown his ability to adapt, with Nadal beating him twice before the result was reversed. The only other player to get the better of Thiem has been Djokovic, who completed a straight sets demolition in Rome.
The Austrian seventh-seed, of course, had a strong run at the Australian Open earlier in the year and is one of the dark horses for the French Open if he can string two weeks together.
The pair have met once previously, with Thiem picking up the Acapulco title over Tomic in 2016, winning in three sets.
Prediction
This is almost a non-contest. Tomic can start an early preparation for the grass court season as Thiem marches into the second round.
Thiem in straight sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of this first round match from around 10:30pm (AEST) or at the completion of Christina McHale versus Svetlana Kuznetsova and don’t forget to add a comment below.