Adrian Mannarino advances in Mallorca after Dominic Thiem retires

The Frenchman will now face Feliciano Lopez in the quarter-finals.

Dominic Thiem’s grass-court debut at the Mallorca Championships was cut short after the second seed was forced to retire against Adrian Mannarino after leading 5-2 in the first set on Tuesday. 

The reigning US Open champion was playing in his first grass-court tennis event since 2019 at Wimbledon. He arrived in Mallorca looking for momentum after a first-round exit at Roland Garros to Pablo Andjuar.

Thiem came into the matchup with Mannarino with an 8-0 edge in their Head2Head record, contesting their first grass-court match. 

He looked set to extend his lead after making a fast start on centre court, powering his way to 5-2 and closing in on the first set. But at 15-0, the Austrian struck a forehand and appeared to injure his right wrist. After receiving a medical time out, Thiem retired from the match after 35 minutes played.

“It’s nice for me to be in the quarter-finals, but winning this way is not so cool. I really like Dominic, he’s such a nice guy and I hope he will be feeling better soon. I hope it is not so serious, especially right before Wimbledon," Adrian Mannarino said in an on-court interview.

He remarked, "I’ve never beat him in the past and obviously he was leading in the scoreboard. I think I was playing okay until Dominic had to stop. I hope he is going to be okay and that I can make a good result here.”

Mannarino advanced to the quarter-finals in Mallorca, where he will next face 39-year-old Feliciano Lopez. The Spaniard took down sixth seed Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to record his 500th match win. Lopez leads Mannarino 2-1 in their Head2Head record. 

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