By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday February 16, 2023
Dominic Thiem was outplayed - and outshined - by Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas in Buenos Aires.
Photo Source: Getty
It was one of those days for Dominic Thiem.
Just two days after earning his first win of the season in a performance that he hoped would kick start his season, the two-time Buenos Aires champion fell flat against Juan Pablo Varillas in dreary conditions at the Argentina Open, and dropped a 6-4 6-4 decision.
On a windy and sprinkly afternoon, Thiem only managed to win three of 30 points against Varillas’ first serve and struggled to hold his own serve as well, as he was broken three times from six opportunities against the World No.101.
99th-ranked Thiem was slow out of the gates, and found himself trailing 5-1 in the opening set before he found any traction in the match. He would close to 5-4 but Varillas shimmied out of the set with a hold to 15 for 6-4.
The Peruvian led 3-1 in the second and never looked back, though Thiem did make it close, and even earned a break point with Varillas serving for the match at 5-4, 30-40. Thiem didn’t convert, and dropped the final three points of the match to fall to 1-5 on the season.
Varillas reaches his third ATP quarterfinal and will face either Pedro Cachin or No.3-seeded Lorenzo Musetti next. The Peruvian is up to a career-high 86 in the Pepperstone Live Rankings with his win.