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Dominic Thiem vs. Daniil Medwedew: This US Open semi-final matchup today (second game after 10pm, ServusTV) at the mighty, but unchanged, nearly empty Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York is an anticipated final for many tennis experts . Both protagonists were almost inviolable in the current Grand Slam tournament. The “Dominator” improves from game to game and has only given up one set (in the third round against Marin Cilic). Medvedev’s vest is still pure white.
The event in the “Big Apple” is one of the absolute favorite tournaments of the fifth of 24 years of the world ranking, which only failed in the 2019 final against Rafael Nadal (Esp). Mind you, after an intense five-set fight.
“Medvedev came close to defeating Nadal after trailing 2-0, which says a lot about his qualities,” emphasized Thiem, who showed no nudity at all last night. Lichtenwörther, 27, dealt with the sometimes stumped Australian Alex de Miñaur, 6: 1, 6: 2, 6: 4. The number three in the ATP world rankings had only a brief period of weakness in the third set, but he was awake and doing a miracle with the “big points”. Everything his adversary tried came back immediately. Even sharper, more accurate.
Muster was close
For Thiem it was the next milestone in his career. He is now the first Austrian to have reached the semi-finals in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments, and in singles singles there has never been a red-white-red athlete in a US Open semi-final. Not even Thomas Muster, who couldn’t get past the three quarter-finals. Once, in 1993 against Alexander Wolkow (Rus), Thiem’s Styrian coach left two match points unused.
“It’s a nice side note that I’m the first to do this here in New York. But I hope for Austrian tennis it was not the last,” said the three-time Major League Baseball finalist (Paris 2018 and 2019, Melbourne 2020) .
Thiem would not be Thiem if he was satisfied with what he has accomplished. He longs for the coronation, which is absolutely realistic. Giants like Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are not on the road, now Alexander Zverev (D) would also be the winner of the first semifinal against Pablo Carreño Busta (Esp), who will be in action at 10.00 p.m. (also on ServusTV ). none that would scare Thiem into a possible final on Sunday (10pm).
Lower Austria doesn’t want to look that far, and the rear view mirror (with 720 ATP points and $ 800,000 gross to date) is also not interesting in the hottest phase of the tournament. “I feel great, especially after the tough phase in the Cincinnati tournament (a sensible second-round loss to Filip Krajinovic, note),” Thiem gave an insight into his inner workings. “I’m currently swimming a bit in the wave of happiness.”
Thiem misses the fans
But progress to his sixth Grand Slam semi-finals (4x French Open, 1x Australian Open, 1x US Open) had little to do with Fortuna. Thiem is in a great mood and has worked hard for his status.
“I know I have to show my best tennis against Medvedev. It will be a very tough match against him,” said the world number three, who lost the support of the spectators from the stands. “Fans usually give you a lot of energy, especially when things don’t turn out that way.” Medvedev warms up even without an audience. Let’s see how fit he is. In the end of the quarterfinals against Andrej Rublew, he had his shoulder treated. “It was just a little bit of pain,” Medvedev said.
Article of
Alexander Zambarloukos
Sports editor
