By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday January 31, 2020
Dominic Thiem edged Alexander Zverev in four tight sets to book his spot in the Australian Open final alongside Novak Djokovic.
Photo Source: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Dominic Thiem continued his dream run at Melbourne on Friday as he rallied from a set down to notch a 3-6 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(4) triumph over Alexander Zverev to reach the final at the Australian Open.
The Austrian reaches his third major final and sets a title clash with seven-time champion Novak Djokovic on Sunday.
"For sure he's the favorite," Thiem said of the impending final. "I mean, he won seven titles here, never lost a final, going for his eighth one. I mean, I'm feeling good on the court. I'm playing great tennis. So try to be at my absolutely best on Sunday."
It was Thiem's steely performance under pressure that enabled him to notch his third consecutive win over Zverev, and his seventh in nine tries. The 26-year-old Austrian has now managed to take all three meetings against the 22-year-old German at the Grand Slams.
It was by no means an easy victory for Thiem.
Zverev took the initiative early on as he capitalized on a slow start from Thiem and drew first blood by claiming the opening set, but Thiem would bounce back to take the final three, including the last two via the tieabreaker.
Thiem, who entered the semifinal with a 105-97 tiebreaker record, had become the first player in history to win three tiebreakers against Rafael Nadal in a single match in Tuesday’s quarterfinal against the Spaniard. On Friday night he stretched his tiebreaker streak to five to get past Zverev in three hours and 42 minutes and become the first Austrian to ever reach the final at the Australian Open.
The Austrian was under constant pressure from Zverev in frount of an enthusiastic crowd in Rod Laver Arena. After dropping the opener he squandered an early lead in the second set before rallying to take the final three games to level the match at a set apiece. The trouble continued for the No.5 seed but he proved up for the challenge as he saved two set points at 4-5 in third set, crushing a backhand winner to negate the first and a forehand winner to take care of the second as he eventually held for 5-all.
Shortly thereafter, Thien would jump out to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker and never look back, taking it 7-3.
"In the important moments, I didn't play my best," Zverev reflected after the match. "He did. That's where the match kind of went his way."
The fourth set went with the server until the tiebreaker and again Thiem raced out to a 3-0 lead. Zverev closed to 3-2 just as he had done in the third-set breaker, but he never got any closer as the Austrian pulled away to win the final three points, closing the contest at the three hour and 42-minute mark with his 15th forehand winner of the evening.
Thiem cracked 43 winners in total for the match, against 40 unforced errors, while Zverev struck 42 against 40 unforced.
Thiem will enter the final with Djokovic as the underdog against the seven-time Australian Open champion, but he will take confidence from the fact that he upended the World No.1 twice in 2019, at Roland Garros and again at the ATP Finals, where he notched his first ever win on a hard court against the Serb.
"That also gave me a lot of confidence for this new year and for Australia because I told myself if I can be in the finals in London, the ATP Finals, why not as well in a hard court slam?" Thiem said. "Since then I know that I'm also playing very well on the faster surfaces."
Once thought of as purely a clay-court threat, Thiem has shaken that label over the last 12 months by winning titles at Indian Wells, Beijing and Vienna, while also reaching the title match at the prestigous ATP Finals last November.
"On hard court, he's a much different and much better player," Zverev said of Thiem.
The German says he believes that Thiem will have a shot against Djokovic in the final.
"It's more difficult [to face Djokovic in Australia]," he admitted. "But I think he has a chance. He's playing the best tennis of his life. I think he's playing much better than he played in London, to be honest. I think it was a much better match that we played. Yeah, I do believe that he has a chance. I do believe he's playing good enough."
More to follow...