Australian Open: Felix Auger-Aliassime beats Dominic Thiem in five-set thriller
What's the story
Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Dominic Thiem in the opening round of the 2024 Australian Open.
Thiem produced a magical comeback, but the former won the five-set thriller after nearly five hours. Felix ended up winning 6-3, 7-5, 6-7(5), 5-7, 6-3.
Notably, Thiem rallied from 2-5 in the tiebreak of the third set, winning five consecutive points.
Here are the stats.
Stats
A look at the match stats
Felix won a total of 182 points, while Thiem won 57 winners in the match. The former struck 16 aces compared to Thiem's 15.
Felix had a win percentage of 77 and 58 in the first and second serves, respectively. He converted five of his 13 break points.
Thiem (66) had more unforced errors than the Canadian (53). He also recorded 10 double-faults.
Aus Open
Felix breaks the shackles
Felix has reached this stage at the Australian Open for the fourth successive year. He featured in the quarter-final in 2022.
Felix has gone past the opening round of a major for the first time since the 2023 Australian Open.
He was knocked out in the opening rounds at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open last year.
Thiem
Thiem continues to struggle
On the other hand, Thiem continues to struggle at Grand Slams. He has gone past the first round just once in his last five majors.
The Austrian was also knocked out in the opening round at the 2023 Australian Open.
Thiem, who won the US Open in 2020, was the finalist at the Australian Open that year.
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A look at the head-to-head record
Felix avenged his loss against Thiem from the 2020 US Open. The Austrian defeated Felix in the Round-of-16 clash and went on to win the title. Felix leveled the head-to-head record against Thiem (1-1).
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Felix's next opponent
Felix will next lock horns with France's Hugo Grenier, who defeated Alexandre Muller in another five-set thriller. The duo is yet to clash on the ATP Tour.