World No. 8 Dominic Thiem came back from the brink, from 3-6, 2-4, 15-40 down to beat Gilles Simon 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-1 to claim his 10th career title in Lyon on Saturday.
Austrian Thiem lost successive matches on the red dirt for the first time since 2016 before his arrival in Lyon and then, the two-time French Open semifinalist was forced to play three consecutive three set matches in the quarterfinals, semis and the final of the tournament.
But, Simon was still unable to stop him from notching up his 200th tour-level match win as the 24-year-old somehow managed to turn things around when he had his backs to the wall. After losing the opening set 3-6, Thiem looked completely out of the contest when he faced two break points at 2-4, 15-40 in the second set.
However, with some help from his opponent, who was unable to grab his opportunities, Thiem survived the scare before the set moved into a tiebreaker. In the breaker, Thiem quickly put his foot on the accelerator as he cruised to a 6-1 lead. Subsequently, Thiem won the set before the match moved into the third set.
In the decider, Thiem carried the momentum forward as he broke in the first game and thereafter never looked back because Simon was unable to stay with him in the rallies. As the pressure on the Frenchman mounted, he lost his serve once again before completely breaking down to hand over a 6-1 victory to Thiem in the final set.
“I’m super happy. I fought really, really hard for this title,” Thiem said. “I’m really happy that I won the title. It’s always something very special. It’s my tenth title, which is a great number. I have a little ‘décima’, I think… I really enjoyed being here.”
Congratulating Thiem on his win, Simon said: “Congratulations for the match, for the tournament and for everything you’ve achieved on clay. Beating Rafa in Madrid, that’s impressive. It’s always tough to beat you and congratulations on all the great results.”
