NEW YORK: Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta sent 2020 champion Dominic Thiem packing 7-5 6-1 5-7 6-3 in the first round of the US Open on Monday, as the Austrian wildcard struggled with his forehand on the long road back from injury.
Thiem reached his first Tour-level semifinal in more than a year at last month’s Swiss Open, a key milestone as he works to regain his form after a June 2021 wrist injury, but showed he still has work to do as he stumbled into 30 unforced forehand errors on Court 17.
Carreno Busta, fresh off his maiden Masters 1000 title in Montreal, overcame early jitters that saw him drop his serve in the first game to put up a comparatively clean performance, winning nearly two-thirds of his first-serve points a year after he crashed out in the opening round.
He next faces either Hugo Gaston of France or Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik.