WASHINGTON (AP) — Top-seeded Dominic Thiem began his tuneup for the U.S. Open with an easy late-night victory at the rain-delayed Citi Open.
Taking the court shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday for his opening-round match, Thiem dispatched Henri Laaksonen 6-3, 6-3, in 1 hour, 3 minutes. The Austrian dropped only eight points on his serve and one on his first serve in his first hard-court match since March.
"I felt good. It got really late. It's always a little bit tricky after a longer period without matches," said Thiem, a French Open semifinalist. "I'm pretty happy with my performance."
The Citi Open also includes former champion Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, Grigor Dmitrov and Nick Kyrgios.
"It's such a strong tournament," Thiem said. "There should be basically 4 or 5 top seeds, and I'm one of them."
Eighth-seeded Jack Sock beat Marius Copil 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) in a match that was delayed more than 3 hours by rain.