Metz Open 2022: Dominic Thiem vs. Richard Gasquet Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Metz Open as Richard Gasquet takes on Dominic Thiem in the Round of 32 on Wednesday, September 21st, 2022.

Will Richard Gasquet grab an eye-catching encounter? Will Dominic Thiem get an encouraging win? This will be a fascinating one, where we have two of the very best one handed backhands in the business coming to a clash. Who will triumph and move through to the Round of 16 at the 2022 Metz Open?

Richard Gasquet has been going on a farewell tour for a little while now, not really able to hold up with the guys anymore on the ATP, but he still has his moments. Especially off his backhand wing, however, his opponent has an even deadlier backhand, so I don’t see how Gasquet will really be able to take advantage of this matchup, I don’t think he has the weapons ready to attack the Thiem forehand, nor do I expect him to be able to do that to Thiem, as he’s only getting better at each event he plays. Let’s see how this one turns out here at the 2022 Metz Open.

Dominic Thiem had an encouraging month, playing a great match against Carreno-Busta at the US Open before crashing out in the final of the Rennes challenger to Ugo Umbert. While it was an unfortunate loss in the final, Thiem can take a lot of good things from the weak, his serve and backhand are about as good as he left them before his injury, but the forehand can most definitely use some more work. Fortunately for him, Gasquet doesn’t have a particularly strong forehand and Thiem will really have an advantage from not being forced to defend off that wing. Let’s see if the Austrian legend can continue to mount his comeback and take down the Frenchman for a place in the last 16 at the 2022 Metz Open.

Richard Gasquet and Dominic Thiem have met three times before, with Richard Gasquet leading the head to head 2-1. Their first 2 meetings came a little earlier in Thiem’s career, with Gasquet still more or less at the top of the sport, while Thiem was still up and coming. It is ultimately a pretty poor matchup for Gasquet, and despite Thiem’s current situation, I don’t expect him to be too torn up over this first round encounter as Thiem looks to progress to the Round of 16 at the 2022 Metz Open.