US Open champion Dominic Thiem said he was “over the limit” physically in his five-hour 7-6 (7-1) 5-7 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 loss to Diego Schwartzman in the French Open quarter-finals.
Austrian Thiem beat Hugo Gaston in the last round in another gruelling five-set encounter, and simply ran out of steam against the Argentine.
“In the end I gave everything I had out there,” Thiem said.
“It was an amazing match – I think the first in
my career over five hours.”
The start of the two-time finalist’s French Open run was only two weeks after he won his maiden Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows.
“It was a pretty short time with the long trip home, jet lag and everything,” Thiem said. “Come here, play in pretty brutal conditions. I cannot say it was a bad tournament – I’m pretty happy about it.” (BBC)