The 35-year-old's first match back in action last week at the Stuttgart Open was a flop when he suffered a shock loss to German veteran Tommy Haas, ranked 302 at the time, despite leading for a set and a half.
Beaten twice by Nadal in the space of a month, in the Barcelona and Madrid Open finals, Thiem took his revenge by handing the 30-year-old Spaniard a first clay court defeat of the season in Rome.
Djokovic has won the last three editions of Wimbledon in 2018, 2019 and last year
France, who were 2-0 up courtesy of Arthur Rinderknech and Adrian Mannarino, faced little resistance from Ecuador as wins for Benjamin Bonzi and the doubles pair of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicholas Mahut secured victory for the 10-times champions.
As a sporting spectacle Alcaraz and Djokovic matches have delivered on every level and would be worthy of the Big Apple spotlight.
Earlier, title holder Borna Coric beat American Sebastian Korda 7-6 (5), 6-4, while another home hope Taylor Fritz survived a first-set thriller to beat Czech Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (14), 6-2.
Rafael Nadal's hopes of winning the year-ending ATP Finals for the first time live on after the Spaniard beat defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Thursday.
No complaints but quarantine differentials were a mistake: Zverev
Friday's match was a straight shootout for a last-four place, with world number five Rublev the favourite having won his four previous matches against Ruud.
Third seed Stanislas Wawrinka became the latest high-profile casualty at the Italian Open on Thursday when the Swiss was knocked out in the third round by American John Isner.
Switzerland won their third Hopman Cup on Saturday as Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Germany's Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber 4-3(3), 4-2 in the deciding mixed doubles to secure a 2-1 victory in the final at the Perth Arena.
Dominic Thiem will watch a treasured home movie of his recent win over Novak Djokovic at the season-ending ATP Tour Finals as he seeks inspiration to take down the defending champion Serb in the Australian Open decider.
Ronaldo got involved in ball kid duties while watching world number one Novak Djokovic's opening match against John Isner of America as the tennis ball bounced into the stands near the first row where he was sitting.
Fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov survived a scare against Pierre-Hugues Herbert before holding his nerve to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday, while Dominic Thiem edged out Russian youngster Andrey Rublev.
Novak Djokovic will begin his Australian Open title defence against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while reigning women's champion Sofia Kenin meets wild card Maddison Inglis, following the draw for the year's first Grand Slam on Friday.
This year's Australian Open will be allowed to admit up to 30,000 fans a day, around 50% of usual capacity, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Carlos Alcaraz powered into the Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time on Monday
Medvedev opened as the +225 favorite at BetMGM but has seen his odds lengthen slightly despite the absence of two of his top threats. He has had a rollercoaster 2022 since falling to Nadal in the Australian Open final.
Jelena Jankovic teamed up with men's world number one Djokovic at his tennis complex in Serbia's capital and beat the duo of Serbia's Davis Cup captain Nenad Zimonjic and 19-year-old prospect Olga Danilovic 7-6 in a mixed doubles contest.
Roger Federer survived a stern test from Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the Miami Open quarter-finals on Tuesday, while top-seeded Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka was eliminated on his birthday.
was on a 21-match unbeaten run before the season came to a halt in early March, winning the ATP Cup with Serbia, an eighth Australian Open title and a fifth Dubai Tennis Championships crown.
American teenage sensation Coco Gauff progressed to her maiden WTA final as she eased past Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-4 at the Linz Open on Saturday. The 15-year-old Gauff became the youngest player to reach a WTA final since Czech Republic's Nicole Vaidisova won the Tashkent Open in 2004, also aged 15.
Florian Mayer put more than a year of injury problems behind him to secure a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory over teenager Alexander Zverev in an all-German final at the Halle Open on Sunday.
Federer beat Kyrgios for the third time in as many editions of the competition to take Europe closer to the 13-point victory target
With each passing year questions are inevitably asked about whether Nadal's vice-like hold on the French Open will be loosened. Each time, the answer has been an emphatic NO.
Before the tournament, top seed Djokovic declared the three should be favourites to win the Slams, and Federer agreed when asked after his Evans match.
The 'Big Three' of men's tennis have found some "fresh energy" to thwart the charge of younger players on the tour, world number one Novak Djokovic said after setting up yet another title clash against his biggest rival against Rafael Nadal.
Since 2003, one of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray have won the title at Wimbledon, with the Swiss leading the way with eight titles.
Wednesday's washout means Friday will now be a bumper semi-finals day as the last four matches in both singles draws will take place then.
Nadal becomes just the fourth man to achieve 1,000 singles victories in the Open Era, behind Jimmy Connors (1,274), Roger Federer (1,242) and Ivan Lendl (1,068).
Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff and Tim Puetz pulled off a shock 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(4), 7-5 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez to give Germany a 2-1 lead in their Davis Cup quarter-final on Saturday.
Homeland favorite Ashleigh Barty and Serbia's Novak Djokovic are the top seeds for the upcoming Australian Open.
Nadal, who would pass fellow Spaniard Andres Gimeno as the oldest Roland Garros men's singles champion if he wins, had to dig deep again in a three-hour slugfest in the semi-final against Alexander Zverev before the German was forced to retire mid-match after injuring his ankle.
The new crop of young players are poised for a Grand Slam breakthrough and New York's bright lights could provide the inspiration that finally gets one of them over the top, five-times US Open champion Roger Federer said on Friday.
Serena Williams, hoping to win a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title, will start her campaign against fellow American Kristie Ahn.
Nadal has a habit of truly coming into his own at Roland Garros, as his 100-2 win-loss record testifies.
Roger Federer used a dominant service game to beat Dutchman Robin Haase 6-3, 7-6(5) in Montreal on Saturday, setting up a Rogers Cup final against German Alexander Zverev.
Top seed Novak Djokovic beat Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-5, 7-6(1) to reach the semi-finals of the Italian Open on Friday and move within one win of 1,000 career victories.
Dominic Thiem staged a stunning comeback to win 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(6) in a nerve-jangling battle of wills and will now head to the French Open with renewed confidence.
