By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday November 12, 2019
Dominic Thiem rallied from 4-1 down in a third-set breaker to defeat Novak Djokovic at the Nitto ATP Finals on Tuesday.
Dominic Thiem notched a dramatic victory over five-time Nitto ATP Finals champion Novak Djokovic to secure his spot in the last four in London for the first time. The Austrian rallied from 4-1 down in a third-set tiebreaker to notch a 6-7(5) 6-3 7-6(5) victory and improve to an impressive 17-2 in deciding sets in 2019.
Thiem’s victory knocks Matteo Berrettini out of semifinal contention and it sets up a battle between Djokovic and Roger Federer on Thursday for the other semifinal spot in Group Bjorn Borg.
It was a highly compelling battle from start to finish.
After Djokovic claimed a tight opener by earning his eighth consecutive tiebreaker win, Thiem upped his aggression and stormed through the second set behind a series of jaw-dropping groundstrokes that were launched with reckless abandon (and breathtaking accuracy).
The Austrian looked to be heading to less complicated victory after he notched a break in the first game of the decider and then saved three break points to hold for 2-0, but Djokovic held firm and finally broke through in the sixth game on his fifth break point of the set to level things at three-all.
The Serb would produce two love holds in succession from there, but Thiem held fast to keep things level.
Djokovic’s world-class defense was on display in his return games but he was unable to counterpunch as effectively as he would have liked due to the extreme power of Thiem’s attack.
Thiem broke at love for 6-5 in the decider but Djokovic calmly hit back, levelling at six apiece when a Thiem backhand sailed long at 15-40 in the next game.
There was plenty of drama left to come.
Djokovic set the tone early in the breaker by winning a 21-stroke rally to take a 1-0 lead. After a Thiem double-fault, the Austrian missed a volley to fall behind by a two mini-breaks, 3-0.
Thiem climbed all the way back from 4-1 to 4-4 by blasting a backhand down the line that forced a Djokovic error; he then walloped a forehand down-the-line winner to lead 5-4 by a mini-break.
The Austrian served-and-volleyed on the next point and finished with a smash to earn two match points at 6-4.
Djokovic forced a Thiem error with a deep backhand return to save a match point, but Thiem clinched the victory on the next point with Djokovic serving at 5-6 when he forced a forehand error.
He fell to the court in disbelief, before shaking hands with Djokovic at the net.
Thiem improves to 4-6 lifetime against Djokovic but he has now won four of five against the Serb. Thiem converted all four break points and earns his first ever win over the Serb on a hard court.