French Open: Thiem, Jabeur crash out on opening day

Paris: Twice French Open finalist Dominic Thiem crashed out of the tournament in the first round on Sunday, losing in straight sets to Bolivian world No. 87 Hugo Dellien.

Austrian Thiem, who has failed to win a match at any of the tournaments he has played since his wrist injury comeback in March, made 42 unforced errors as his once dominant claycourt game deserted him.

"It was not a good match at all but it is what it is," Thiem, ranked third in the world in 2021 compared to his current 194th, told reporters.

"I knew it would take time and the level is extremely high. It is going to take a few more months until I say now I am ready to beat those guys again."

The 28-year-old struggled with his forehand throughout the match and said it was now time to compete in lower-tier tournaments to get match wins under his belt.

"The problem is in practice it is really decent but a match situation is something different, Grand Slam especially. I am definitely thinking to go back to Challenger level for one or two tournaments," he said.

"I am more tight, more nervous and the whole body gets more tight. This is toxic to my forehand because I am still missing the fine feeling there," he said.

Dellien, comfortable on the surface after battling through the qualifiers to reach the main draw in all five claycourt tournaments preceding Paris, did not have to wait long for his chance.

He earned his first break point in Thiem's opening service game and broke him on his second to race through the first set.

Two quick breaks in the second wrapped it up for Dellien, with Thiem, who injured his wrist in Mallorca in 2021 and required surgery, struggling throughout.

He capitulated 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in just over two hours.

Tunisian Ons Jabeur became the first major casualty on the opening day when the in-form sixth seed crashed out with a 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 loss to Poland's Magda Linette.

Jabeur, seen as one of the big threats to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the claycourt Grand Slam, came to Paris at a career-high ranking and with a tour-leading 17 wins on the surface.

With her win in Madrid and runner-up finishes in Rome and Charleston, it seemed like Jabeur would have an easy outing against Linette when she made a strong start on Court Philippe Chatrier under overcast skies.

The 27-year-old suffered an early break of serve before breezing through the opening set in 37 minutes before Linette, who was ranked 56th before the start of the second major of the year, raised her game.

Linette, 30, had only defeated Jabeur in the first of their four meetings back in 2013 but she staged an inspired fightback in the second set, saving four breakpoints to level the match in the tiebreak.

As drops of rain fell on the main showcourt, Jabeur's level also dipped and her unforced errors climbed and she made her frustration evident by kicking balls away after losing points.

Linette, who lost to Jabeur in the third round last year, went up 4-2 in the third set but saw her advantage slip away when Jabeur broke her serve back to stay alive.

But the Pole sealed the match when the Tunisian wasted a 40-0 lead in the 12th game and found the net on match point to be broken for the second time in the set.