Thiem Returns As US Open Champion: ‘It Will Never Get Old’

Dominic Thiem calls the US Open one of his favourite tournaments and New York one of his favourite cities. This year, the Austrian is as excited as ever to arrive at Flushing Meadows.

After missing the 2021 edition due to a wrist injury, Thiem will return to the venue as US Open champion for the first time.

“It doesn’t get old and I think it will never get old [saying that]. It will always be special and it will always be there, which makes me very happy,” Thiem told ATPTour.com. “But at the same time, sports is a very fast business and everybody is hungry every day. I have zero advantage because of being a champion.”

Two years ago, Thiem was soaring higher than ever. In his fourth major final, the Austrian battled past Alexander Zverev 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(6) to lift the trophy in New York. He had also defeated Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the semi-finals and was the No. 3 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Later that season, Thiem defeated Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal en route to the championship match of the Nitto ATP Finals.

^{Photo Credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images}
But the past 14 months have been difficult for the 17-time tour-level titlist. Last June, Thiem suffered a wrist injury while competing in Mallorca that kept him away from competition for nine months.

Fans are used to Thiem dominating opponents using his physical baseline game, which features relentless attacking with heavy groundstrokes leading the way. But in 2022, it has taken time for Thiem to return to his best. Although he has shown flashes of brilliance, the 28-year-old’s deepest run was to the semi-finals in Gstaad.

It is a moment that requires perseverance, a quality Thiem has shown plenty of in the past. His play at Flushing Meadows has proven it. All it takes is looking at his time in New York two years ago.

Thiem lost to Filip Krajinovic 2-6, 1-6 in his opening match at the Western & Southern Open, which that year was held at Flushing Meadows.

“The score was devastating, 2 and 1,” Thiem remembered. “It was difficult because normally you lose, you go to another place. You make the reset, but there everything stayed the same. I remember I took one or two days off. Obviously there was a bubble so I just stayed in the hotel, I watched some TV, trying to find some stuff to distract me.”

Thiem confidently shook off the disappointment of that defeat and reached the US Open final with the loss of just one set. He woke up on 13 September 2020 like it was any other day. After falling short in his first three Grand Slam finals, Thiem had another chance to earn major glory.

“I remember [that morning] quite well, actually. I just remember it was a normal morning. The warmup was very good with [coach] Nico Massu. I had a great feeling. It was not that different to the other three Grand Slam finals that I played,” Thiem said. “The bad things started when the match started. I was all of a sudden unbelievably nervous, unbelievably tight.”

A great opportunity to achieve a dream suddenly was slipping away. Zverev surged to a 6-2, 6-4 lead inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, where there were no fans because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The last thing Thiem was going to do against Zverev was stop giving it his all, no matter the deficit he faced.

“I tried to relax myself and say to myself, ‘If I don’t relax now, if I don’t release now, I’m going to lose anyway’,” Thiem recalled. “That’s kind of the last chance I have to release the hand brake, to play more aggressive, to play more fast.”

Thiem had to win three consecutive sets to claim the biggest victory of his career. He managed to secure a break in the third and hold onto it, taking the first step of his comeback. His coach, Nicolas Massu, remembers seeing the momentum of the match turn at that moment.

“I think that changed everything for him. Maybe when you are two sets to zero down, you look at the match and start to think that you are far,” Massu said. “When you make the break and are almost close to winning the third set and are two-sets-to-one down, you don’t see things so, so far away. If you win the third set, you have a chance.”

Thiem fully seized the momentum and stormed through the fourth set. But the roller coaster was nowhere close to coming to a stop, despite it being the final set. Zverev served for the championship at 5-3, before Thiem recovered and served for the trophy at 6-5. Neither man converted. Massu was out of his seat after almost every point.

“The [players] had the feeling that, ‘Maybe this is my moment to win a Grand Slam.’ That’s also why I think it was a tight match from both sides. Dominic was more tight at the beginning and Sascha was playing better at the beginning,” Massu recalled. “Then Dominic started to play better and Sascha started to get tight when he was close to winning. But at the end, the only difference in the match was two points. Sometimes these two points go to your side and sometimes they go to the other side.

“The good thing for us and for Dominic was that this time, it was for him.”

Despite letting slip a 6/4 lead in the final-set tie-break, Thiem won the battle of wills and fell to his back in disbelief after Zverev missed a final backhand wide.

It was an example of what is possible if you do not give up. That is why, despite the past 14 months being difficult, Thiem is excited to continue pushing to not just return to his best, but to strive for even better.

“The lesson I learned was that there is always light at the end of the tunnel, even when you don’t think there is, even when things are very, very tough, when there’s a lot of pain or when it seems like there is no way forward,” Thiem said. “I had this feeling quite a lot, especially in the beginning of the wrist injury. But somehow after a while, there is always a little step forward.

“To see those little positive things, it’s very important and it’s not only in tennis or sports, but all of life.”