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- Tormented by muscle problems in the tie-break of the deciding set, Thiem found unsuspected resources and closed the game with the third ball he had. The Austrian thus achieved his first Grand Slam title in his career, after losing the previous three finals;
- Zverev came very close to victory twice. He led 2-0 in sets and broke in the third set, but the Austrian came back and sent the match into the fifth set. In the decider, Zverev was 5-3, but this time he also failed to find the goal;
- After 17 years, Dominic Thiem is the first player to win a Grand Slam final after being led 0-2 in sets. In 2004, at Roland Garros, Gaston Gaudio returned and won a final 3-2 with Guillermo Coria.
That winning feeling 😀@ThiemDomi me #United States Open pic.twitter.com/7Gy9SFaTJY
– US Tennis Open (@Usopen) September 14, 2020
How confusing are the forms of tennis! As indestructible as Thiem seemed in the semifinals with Medvedev, so fragile was much of the title match with Zverev. From bookies to world-renowned tennis specialists, almost everyone considered the Austrian a favorite in the New York final.
At just 27 years old, the stars seemed to be aligning for Thiem, who had been waiting for years for his first big hit. With superior experience than Zverev (he just played the fourth Grand Slam final of his career), but also without Djokovic, Federer and Nadal, the world number three was excellently positioned before the final.
He had only lost one set during the tournament and had shown an excellent level, especially in the victory with Medvedev. Against the Russian, Thiem was like a stone throughout the match, eliminating at least in sets the one who had become the trophy favorite after the elimination of Djokovic. However, in the first two sets of the match with Zverev, Thiem was just the shadow of the player who had reached the last act without blinking.
Series 1: Thiem, “strangled” by the pressure of the final
Tense, fearful at most moments, pressured, as it were, by the three Grand Slam finals lost previously, Thiem lost his job from the third game of the match. Changed to the rest of the tournament was not only Thiem, but also Zverev. But the transformation of the German, in the first grand finale of his career, was positive, which awakened in him the version he needed for a match with such stakes.
Zverev, who in the semi-finals with Pablo Carreño Busta had returned for the first time in his career from 0-2 to sets, thwarted Thiem’s excellent tactics. The Austrian planned to hold Zverev captive for long turns and set the pace on the baseline, just as he had done in the semi-finals with Medvedev. It’s just that the German quickly realized his opponent’s tactical plan. He was aggressive from the start of the game, punishing every moment of Thiem’s passivity and also taking advantage of the Austrian’s endless unforced errors.
Because Thiem’s inner nervousness made his presence felt right here: his deep blows lost their depth: they were sent too short, or they went outside or inside the net. Thiem was also not helped by the sergeant, and another dreaded weapon of his, the one-handed backhand, proved more ineffective than ever.
Lost in the trap of unforced errors, Thiem lost the first set in just over 30 minutes (2-6). He lost his job twice, didn’t even buy a break ball and helplessly attended Zverev’s recital, who “scattered” strong forehand shots from the most uncomfortable parts of the field.
+31 PHOTOS- Photo Source: Pete Staples / USTA
Set 2: Zverev dominates, Thiem picks up
The Austrian had also lost the set to Marin Cilic, but the joke thickened when, in just a few minutes, the table showed a 5-1 in favor of Zverev. Midway through the second set, Domi had counted just 7 straight wins and more than 20 unforced errors, a terrible report for Nicolas Massu’s student.
Disoriented, Thiem tried to wake up with his fists, recovered a break, but the German did not blink when he pulled the second half of the set. The serve worked much better than usual for the German, and the game behind took on notable dimensions. The German found some impossible angles from tricky positions and kept his composure as Thiem tried to “climb” again on set.
In short, during the first two sets, Zverev built on exactly the strengths that he lacked in previous years: a solid service and the mental balance so necessary in a final of such importance. Bonus: the German also dominated his rival in the net, knew when to break the rhythm with a short, most of his entry to the front was doomed to success. 6-4 in favor of Zverev, and the trophy leans more and more towards his window.
Set 3: In Search of the Lost Thiemp
Establish three continuous, up to a point, at the same coordinates. Zverev paused quickly and took the lead. 2-1 for him and only four games to win. Somewhere out of nowhere, unexpectedly, the New York final witnessed a burst of pride from Thiem, who realized he had nothing to lose and left behind the KOs collected in the first two sets.
He started to rebound from aggression that hadn’t existed until then and put more and more pressure on Zverev, who could no longer keep up in the first two rounds. Thiem’s pressure paid off. At 4-5, the German played the weakest game of the match on his own serve, and the final was relaunched.
+31 PHOTOS- Photo Source: Pete Staples / USTA
Set 4: Zverev loses control of the match, the decider is the logical consequence
Thiem caught wings after winning the third set. He returned to his game of regularity throughout the tournament, and distrust gradually crept into Zverev’s evolution. The German lost his intensity and Thiem immediately felt the obvious vulnerability coming from the other side of the net. Domi took courage, began to strike with much more precision and made almost no mistakes, destabilizing, game by game, his opponent’s game.
The Austrian served first, he was always in front of the table and the situation intimidated the German. As Thiem trailed, watch out !, with just two points from his own serve in the entire set, his opponent began to make his job harder and harder.. Finally, it clicked, and a break was enough for Thiem to send the game into the decider.
Set 5: unreal tennis level, Thiem surfaces and wins the trophy
2-2 in sets, and Thiem, who arrived with the moral ascendancy of the last two sets won, was once again the definitive favorite in the final, as before the start of the match. The Austrian’s break from the opening match is natural. Zverev’s body language showed an almost irreparable slump, and Thiem flew onto the field and all he had to do was hold a few games to get his hands on the trophy.
However, the stakes in the match speak for itself and bring Thiem back in an unfortunate short period, allowing the German to regain his rest and recalibrate his game. The most spectacular moments of the final followed: the level of both players was at maximum levels, both offering exchanges of special intensity.
Extremely aggressive, Zverev regained his lost tone in the previous two sets and, with a 4-3 going for him, achieved an exceptional rank on Thiem’s serve, in which he surprised the Austrian with aggressive arrivals at the net. Zverev took the lead, leading 5-3, but, overwhelmed with emotions, he was unable to close the match on his own.
😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/Lyvim5Vg2s
– US Tennis Open (@Usopen) September 13, 2020
Even without spectators in the empty stands of “Arthur Ashe”, the pressure was unbearable in the last few games. Zverev squandered the lead and Thiem, thanks to some exceptional passes, took the lead and served for the trophy at 6-5. It was the Austrian’s turn to miss the opportunity to close the match, who entered the decisive tie-break.
The extensions of the decisive were all the more dramatic when Thiem began to accuse him of medical problems. The Austrian faced cramps and visibly limped in the final minutes of the match, but even in these conditions, he heroically resisted and won the tie-break at six, winning the first Grand Slam of his career.
+31 PHOTOS- Photo Source: Pete Staples / USTA
Speechless. pic.twitter.com/9WyIG1zliL
– US Tennis Open (@Usopen) September 14, 2020
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