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Dominic Thiem from Austria will play against Germany Alexander Zverev at US Open final for his first Grand Slam titles after winning his last four matches in contrasting styles on Friday.
Second seed Thiem beat Russian third seed and last year’s runner-up Daniil Medvedev in a close three-set game that was packed with powerful baseline rallies and impressive serve.
Thiem, 27, won 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) 7-6 (7/5) in 2 h 56 min inside Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach his fourth Grand Slam final.
Previously, Zverev was coming down two sets to complete a remarkable comeback against 20-year-old Pablo Carreño Busta and reach his first final of a tennis major.
The 23-year-old German won an error-ridden duel 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in 3:23, also on the famous Ashe track.
It was the first time in Zverev’s career that he came back two sets to win.
“I actually looked at the scoreboard when I had two sets down to love,” Zverev said.
“I was like, ‘I can’t believe it. I’m playing in a semi-final, I’m supposed to be the favorite and I don’t have a chance, I’m playing so bad.”
Zverev made 36 unforced errors in the first two sets compared to 12 for Carreño Busta, as the nerves of the occasion seemed to overpower him.
But Zverev began to reduce his errors in the third set, improving his service game and taking control of the plays with more powerful and accurate groundstrokes.
“I started to get the ball more on the go up. I started to give myself the opportunity to be the one who is aggressive,” the German said, adding: “I’m in my first Grand Slam final and that’s all that matters.”
Carreño Busta said he had missed “a great opportunity” to reach a first Slam final.
“I made it to the semi-finals here. I know it’s a good result, it’s a good performance, but now at the moment it is difficult,” he told reporters.
Zverev becomes the first German to reach the final of a tennis major since Rainer Schuttler at the 2003 Australian Open.
New winner
The field at this year’s US Open has been hampered by the absence of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
The tournament was opened wide by the disqualification of world number one and big favorite Novak Djokovic in the round of 16 for hitting a linesman with the ball.
It means Sunday’s final will see a Grand Slam champion for the first time since Croatian Marin Cilic won at Flushing Meadows in 2014.
It also means that there will be a Grand Slam champion other than Djokovic, Nadal or Federer for the first time since Swiss Stan Wawrinka won the third of his tennis careers at the 2016 US Open.
Thiem, third in the world, will play his second straight Slam final after reaching the last two at this year’s Australian Open.
He also lost in the final of the French Open in 2018 and 2019.
Thiem’s semi-final score flattered him a bit. It was a high quality event that saw small changes in momentum in the direction of both players at different stages.
In the end, the match was decided by Thiem scoring points at key moments, with Medvedev blowing a 4-2 lead in the second.
He was also on set point while serving 5-3 in the third set, but Thiem won a rally of 38 shots to take the game and return the set to service before securing the tie-break and the match.
“It was great tennis for both of us,” said Thiem, whose focus is now on Zverev.
“We have a great friendship and rivalry. It is really surprising that we meet in a Slam final,” he added.
