Dominic Thiem beats Alexander Zverev to win US Open, first Grand Slam title

Dominic Thiem made a historic comeback to beat Alexander Zverev in a nervy five-setter and win the US Open on Sunday for his maiden Grand Slam title. 

The second seeded Austrian beat the fifth seed 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) in 4hr 2min inside a near-empty Arthur Ashe Stadium, marking the first time in the US Open’s Open era history that a player had recovered from losing the opening two sets to win the title. 

Zverev smashed four aces and 16 winners in the first set as he displayed an impressive serve and volley game to take a 1-0 lead in just 30 minutes. He was helped by some sloppy serving from Thiem, who hit three double faults as he was broken twice, in games three and seven.

However, In set two, Zverev wasted three set points while 5-1 up but held on to take a 2-0 lead on his fifth set point. The tide was beginning to turn though as Zverev’s play became increasingly cagey. After Thiem easily took set four, the German found himself serving for the championship at 5-3 in the fifth set.

But he could not hold and soon Thiem found himself 6-5 ahead. He took a medical timeout before it was his turn to serve for the championship. However, like Zverev moments earlier, Thiem too failed to clinch the match and it went to a tie-break.

He found himself 5-3 up after two double faults by Zverev but Thiem, by now exhausted and limping, blew two championship points. He won the title on his third and collapsed to the court with his head in his hands

Thiem’s first trophy comes after three previous defeats in finals of tennis majors, which includes losing the final of the Australian Open earlier this year and also lost in the last-two showdowns at the French Open in 2018 and 2019. 

Along with becoming the first Grand Slam champion other than Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer since Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka won the third of his majors at the 2016 US Open, he also became the first new Grand Slam champion since Croatian Marin Cilic won at Flushing Meadows in 2014.

While this year’s field at the Billie Jean King US National Tennis Center in New York was depleted by the absence of Swiss legend Roger Federer and defending champion Rafael Nadal,  the disqualification of world number one and heavy favorite Djokovic in the last 16 for hitting a line judge with the ball made space for a new champion.