Austrian Dominic Thiem warmed up for the French Open by beating Gilles Simon 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 to win the ATP Tour event in Lyon on Saturday. Ahead of the start of Roland Garros on Sunday, world number eight Thiem battled back from a set down to claim the 200th tour win of his career. The 24-year-old, who will be seeded seventh for the clay-court Grand Slam in Paris, took just his second title of the season after winning another low-quality clay tournament in Buenos Aires in February.
Thiem is the only man to have beaten Rafael Nadal on clay this year, after snapping the world number one's 50-set winning streak on the surface in Madrid, only to lose to Alexander Zverev in the final. The two-time French Open semi-finalist was in trouble in Lyon, though, as French journeyman Simon moved 4-2 ahead in the second set. But Thiem broke back in the eighth game before easing through a tie-break and dominating the deciding set. Now he will head to Paris to prepare for his first-round match against Belarusian qualifier Ilya Ivashka.
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