PARIS, May 30, 2019

Dominic Thiem faced a tricky test on Thursday by taking on Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the second round at Roland Garros. The No. 4 seed from Austria, however, handled the unconvential game style of his opponent well, winning 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5.

Thiem withstood 16 aces from the World No. 91, breaking his serve five times to secure victory in two hours and 30 minutes.

“It was very difficult today. A tough and strange match, as there were almost no rallies. He almost served only first serves. He gave me no rhythm at all. He did it very good, actually,” Thiem said. “I am just happy to be through in four sets.”

Next up for Thiem will be Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, who benefited from the retirement of 28th seeded Briton Kyle Edmund. Edmund retired at 7-6(3), 6-3, 2-1 down in the third set on Court 6 due to a left knee injury.

Alexander Zverev showed a solid performance against Swedish qualifier Mikael Ymer, who appeared in his first Grand Slam main draw. The No. 5 seed from Germany , who struggled to find his best form during this year’s clay-court season, impressed with an aggressive play, taking the balls early to seal a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(3) victory in just under two hours of play.

“I think a lot of tight matches have helped me in Geneva and here in the first round. Yeah, today I was swinging at the ball quite nicely and hitting it very aggressively and it was a very good match for me. I think it could have been even easier than the score was. All in all, I think I’m starting to play really well.,” Zverev was pleased with his performance. He will next play Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, who finished runner-up to Fabio Fognini at the Monte-Carlo ATP Masters 1000 event last month.