"He's a role model"- Thiem praises Murray after their Madrid Open match

17-time tour titlist Dominic Thiem has praised “role model” Andy Murray after the two faced off for the first time in three years in Madrid.

The two former Grand Slam winners clashed in the opening round of the Madrid Open, with the former world number one beating the Austrian comfortably 6-3, 6-4 to earn his first clay-court win since 2017 at Roland Garros and improve to 3-2 in their head to head record.

Afterwards, the pair met at the net and shared a warm embrace, with Murray ushering words of encouragement to Thiem:

“Keep going. It takes a lot of time but you’ll be fine”.

Thiem praised Murray saying:

“He is one of the few who knows how tough it is to come back after a major injury and obviously he is a role model with how he came back with his hip injury.”