2 things that stood out in Dominic Thiem's 1R win over Alexandre Muller at Swiss Open

Dominic Thiem of Austria beat Alexandre Muller of France 6-1, 7-6(4) in the first round of the Swiss Open in Gstaad on Monday, July 17. The match lasted for around two hours, as the 29-year-old Austrian notched up a tour-level win after quite a while.

The former US Open champion will face Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia in the second round on Wednesday, July 19. He is likely to win that match, too, and is expected to go deep into the tournament. On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in the match between Thiem and Muller.

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#1 Dominic Thiem dictated terms with his backhand for the most part

It was refreshing to see Dominic Thiem hit his backhand really well in the match; with no evident sign of the wrist injury that had plagued him for long. His backhand is quite a treat to watch when in full flow. His crosscourt backhand from the baseline gave him the upper hand in most of the rallies, as Muller struggled to deal with them largely.

The Austrian hit powerful groundstrokes off his forehand, too, and managed to overpower and outhit the Frenchman for the majority of the first set. He broke Muller twice and never lost his serve to race through the set and draw the first blood.

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#2 Muller showed good touch in the second set but succumbed in the end

The 26-year-old Frenchman gave a better account of himself in the second set and fought neck and neck with Thiem in it. He used his drop shots effectively on the red dirt of Gstaad to win a few points. However, Dominic Thiem countered that by playing a few quality drop shots himself.

There were a few very entertaining rallies in the second set, as both players tried hard to assert their supremacy. The set then went into a tie-break that saw Thiem race to a 3-0 lead. He finally won it 7-4 to finish the match off and reach the second round quite convincingly.

Muller lacked the venom in his strokes required to trouble the Austrian and his subtle touches were not enough to save the day for him. He could not break Thiem even once in the match and was able to win only 45% of the points on his second serve, which was put to the sword by the Austrian in the first set.

Dominic Thiem will start as the favorite against Medjedovic, as he is desperately in need of a good showing in the tournament to rejuvenate his career.