Emotional farewell for Dominic Thiem after Roland Garros qualifying loss, but anger still remains after wildcard snub

Dominic Thiem has said goodbye to one of the tournaments that means the most to him in the French Open. He received a trophy and a farewell ceremony on Court Suzanne Lenglen after being defeated 7-5, 6-2 by Otto Virtanen in the second round of qualifying.

But his mark has been left on a tournament that he is heavily associated with which makes the decision not to hand him a wildcard baffling to many. Despite that though, he was given his send off with Amelie Mauresmo who is tournament director presenting him with the trophy.

Thiem won't retire until the end of the season with the former US Open champion set for his final stand in Vienna in November. But is goodbye to a tournament that he has reached the final in twice and been synonymous with outside of winning the US Open.

“Thank you for today, and also for two days ago.. playing qualies for a full stadium on Suzanne Lenglen where I have so many great memories was such a great farewell for Roland Garros. Thank you to everyone who came and gave me such great support.. There’s really a special bond, a special relationship with this tournament… I had so many great results, memories, and experiences on these courts. It’s the grand slam with my best results. I enjoyed every single year of it..thank you so much for all the memories… they will last for a lifetime," said Thiem.

As well as being a two-time runner-up, he was a four time semi-finalist in a row and also ended the bid of Novak Djokovic to seal a Djokoslam in 2019 which is holding all four Grand Slam titles at the same time. While his time at the top was brief, he left a real impact on the sport and also the big names who at the time led the sport.

But amid the emotional send-off, social media was also full of continued anger that the tournament made him play qualifying in the first place. A post saying Paris loves you Domi from the official account was met with much criticism.

"You don’t or you would have given him a main draw WC so he could have a proper send off. But @FFTennis is trash, so you didn’t," one wrote. "You love him so much, but couldn't give him a wildcard?" another said. "Paris does, but RG does not," said a further fan. A lot of anger has swelled surrounding this decision and only increases with him not making the main draw.