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World No. 3 and US Open champion Dominic Thiem is one of the favorites at Roland Garros, which begins on Sunday. The Austrian should be among the contenders for the title with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Thiem has not lost before the semi-finals in the past four years and fought for the title in 2018 and 2019. Thiem lost these title fights against Rafael Nadal and came to Paris this year with more self-confidence after winning the first Important crown in New York in this exciting final against Alexander Zverev.
In the third quarter, Dominic must defeat players like Marin Cilic, Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray, Diego Schwartzman, Borna Coric and Gael Monfils en route to the semifinals against Rafael Nadal.
Thiem had the opportunity to practice on Thursday and feel the playing field, which should be very different from previous years, with new Wilson balls and much colder weather than in June.
Still, Dominic recalled his first Roland Garros semi-final against Novak Djokovic in 2016 and said it couldn’t be much colder than 11 degrees Celsius. Still, Dominic remembered his first Roland Garros semi-final against Novak Djokovic in 2016 and said it couldn’t be much colder than it was when it was 11 degrees Celsius.
Novak Djokovic reached his fourth Roland Garros final four years ago after beating Dominic Thiem 6: 2, 6: 1, 6: 4 and kept his course towards this elusive Roland Garros crown. Thiem had a great tournament, but it wasn’t enough to challenge the world number 1 that day.
With his serve, he lost almost half the points and suffered six breaks of the 13 opportunities offered to Novak. Djokovic played an absolutely solid match from start to finish, adding 15 winners and casual errors to his record, while Thiem had a ratio of 27 to 34.
Knowing that he had to take the lead in the rallies, Thiem couldn’t find his best shots to get Novak out of the comfort zone as the Serb crossed the square. Dominic had to do his best to win the points and even in these situations Novak was in the competition and left nothing for free.
Dominic Thiem wants to win his second Grand Slam in Paris
Djokovic’s unreal consistency in Majors improved even more after this win. He reached his sixth consecutive final and it was a staggering 18th of the last 23 major events!
Novak showed his determination in the first second leg, breaking Thiem in the second game and going 4-1 in no time. In three service games he lost two points. Djokovic secured a 4-2 break point to win the set in the next game.
For the second time, he stole Dominic’s serve and won the first set 6-2. Thiem couldn’t do anything with his serve because apparently Novak could break it at any moment. The Serbian caused problems in all four return matches, as Thiem was unable to fend off this pressure with quick and easy points.
Novak continued into the second set at the same pace and delivered an even more effective result. Thiem finally had a comfortable service game early in the set, but that didn’t help him much as Novak broke it in the fourth game to build a 3-1 lead.
Another break in the sixth game gave Djokovic a 5-1 lead to win the set later. Djokovic was brutal in this part of the game, losing four points behind the first shot and taking the lead on the return.
Thiem was on the positive side of the scoreboard for some time in the early stages of the third set and broke Novak in the second game to gain a 3-0 lead. Djokovic had the answer to this small setback by increasing his game to break Thiem twice in a row, winning five games in a row and losing seven points in the process.
Novak led 5-4 in the match and did well after securing a break point. He converted the first match point and secured the fourth final Roland Garros ticket. “I still remember the 2016 semi-final against Novak Djokovic. The thermometer read 11 degrees. I don’t think it will be much colder,” Dominic Thiem said.
