Thiem through to second round of French Open qualifying
Written by I Dig SportsDominic Thiem began his French Open swansong with a comeback victory against Franco Agamenone in the first round of qualifying.
The former US Open champion beat Italy's Agamenone 3-6 6-3 6-2 in front of a packed crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The 30-year-old Austrian will retire later this year but was not given a wildcard for Roland Garros, where he was runner-up in 2018 and 2019.
Thiem needs to win two more matches to reach the main draw of the Grand Slam, which starts on Sunday.
He has struggled with a wrist injury since his triumph in New York in 2020 and has slipped to 131 in the world rankings.
Britain's Billy Harris began his qualifying campaign with a 6-3 4-6 6-1 win over American Emilio Nava, but Lily Miyazaki lost 6-1 6-1 to China's Wei Sijia and Jan Choinski fell 6-4 6-4 to Denis Kudla of the United States.
Cameron Norrie, Jack Draper, Dan Evans and Andy Murray are all on the entry list for the men's singles, with Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage in the women's.
Record 14-time champion Rafael Nadal also practised on Monday in what is widely expected to be his final French Open appearance.
The Spaniard has indicated 2024 is likely to be his final season before retirement.
The 37-year-old said he would only appear at his favourite tournament if he felt "capable enough to compete".