Thiem survives home favorite to advance at the Rio Open

Top seed Dominic Thiem battled through pain and a partisan crowd on Tuesday to advance to the second round at the 2020 Rio Open.

The 2020 Australian Open finalist faced Brazilian wildcard Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves in the latter's ATP main draw debut. Ranked No.341, Rodrigues Alves utilized the support of the home crowd to stay level with the Austrian until Thiem finally broke him at 2-3 and raced away with the first set.

Proceedings took a different turn in the second set, as Thiem received medical treatment for pain in his left knee. His opponent took full advantage of this, forcing the Austrian to play longer points before committing the inevitable error. With the crowd fully on his side, the Brazilian took the second set 6-4.

Sensing an upset in the making, Thiem displayed his championship pedigree by racing to a 5-0 lead in the final set. The World No.4 silenced the crowd with a backhand volley winner on match point, winning the match 6-2 4-6 6-1 in two hours and 4 minutes.

Thiem next faces Spaniard Jaume Munar, who defeated Italian Salvatore Caruso 7-5 6-4. The Austrian holds a 2-0 career lead over the World No.99.

Second-seeded Dusan Lajovic overcame Italian Marco Cecchinato 6-4 7-6(4) 6-1. The Serbian will meet another Italian when he faces Lorenzo Sonego, who battled past Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-1 5-7 6-4 in two hours and 52 minutes.

Fifth-seeded Croat Borna Coric squandered two match points but was able to prevail against Argentine Juan Ignacio Londero 7-6(5) 7-5 in just under two hours. Coric will clash with home favorite Thiago Seyboth Wild for a spot in the quarterfinals. The Brazilian is coming off the performance of his life in the first round, and he should have the home crowd's support.

Italian qualifier Gianluca Mager upset eighth seed Casper Ruud 7-6(4) 7-5 in an hour and 52 minutes. The World No.128 required five match points to defeat the recent Argentina Open champion.

Awaiting Mager is Portuguese qualifier Joao Domingues, who defeated Italian Federico Gaio 7-6(8) 6-4. Lucky loser Attila Balazs also advanced to the next round, dismissing Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 6-4 6-3 in an hour and 31 minutes.

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