European Open: Thiem fights back to overcome Nardi and reach second round

Dominic Thiem moved into the second round of the European Open by beating Luca Nardi 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 in Antwerp.

In a late-night finish at the Lotto Arena, the 2020 US Open champion had to fight back from a set down against a spirited performance from the Italian wildcard.

But once the second set was in the bag for Thiem – courtesy of a tight tiebreak – there only looked like there was one winner as the Austrian accelerate to the finish game by breaking twice without reply to close out a hard-fought win.

Thiem, ranked No 86, will play German Yannick Hanfmann, the No 5 seed, next.

Antwerp ATP250, other first-round results (Lotto Arena, EUR 673.630, most recent results first):

• Dominic Stricker vs. Botic van de Zandschulp
• Nuno Borges vs. Dominik Koepfer
• Yannick Hanfmann beat Alexander Blockx (Q): 6-4, 7-6 (3)
• Maximilian Marterer (Q) beat Richard Gasquet (7): 6-3, 6-4
• Juan Pablo Varillas (8) beat Fabian Marozsan: 7-6 (7), 6-4
• Alexander Shevchenko beat Benjamin Bonzi (Q): 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-3
• Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (Q) beat Roberto Carballes Baena (6): 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
• David Goffin (WC) beat Quentin Halys: 6-4, 6-1
• Hugo Gaston beat Arthur Rinderknech: 7-6 (7), 6-4
• Mark Lajal (WC) beat Jaume Munar: 6-3, 6-4
• Gregoire Barrere beat Daniel Elahi Galan: 6-1, 7-6 (5)