A few weeks after his defeat at the Marbella Challenger following which he had contracted the Covid, and despite the support of the Belgrade public of which he is one of the favorites, Thiem lost to the Australian John Millman (80th) in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 4-6.
Goffin (49th), 31, winner of the sixth title of his career in Marrakech on clay on Sunday, suffered the law of the Serbian Filip Krajinovic (45th) who, carried by his audience, concluded the debates in two sets 6-3 , 7-6 (4).
For Thiem, 28, the return to competition is proving difficult.
He had not played since his retirement from Mallorca last June, due to a right wrist injury.
The winner of the US Open 2020, unfortunate finalist twice at Roland-Garros (2018 and 2019), had resumed competition on the secondary circuit at the end of March in Marbella but he lost to the Argentinian Pedro Cachin ( 228e) 6-3, 6-4.
The main seeds enter the competition on Wednesday, starting with world No.1 Novak Djokovic, who came to play in his hometown to accumulate matches on clay after his surprise defeat last week at the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo against the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich, future finalist.
© 2022 AFP