When Dominic Thiem was growing up, he always dreamt of winning a Grand Slam title. After turning that into a reality by triumphing at the US Open, the Austrian doesn’t want the victory to change who he is off the court.

“I hope that it doesn’t change my life because my life cannot depend on success. That would be wrong,” Thiem told ATPTour.com. “But I hope it definitely changes my career. I achieved the biggest goal so far that I set for myself and I hope that it lets me play more free and even better tennis in the next big tournaments coming up.”

The 27-year-old became the first player to lift his maiden major trophy since Marin Cilic emerged victorious at the 2014 US Open. Between the 2017 Australian Open and this past fortnight at Flushing Meadows, only members of the Big Three — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic — earned Grand Slam glory.

“I think that more younger players will win major trophies in the future, yes, but the Big Three are still around. The next huge tournament, the French Open, is just around the corner and Rafa and Novak are in the draw,” Thiem said. “I think whenever they are in the draw they are the biggest favourites to win the title just because they are who they are. But I think it was good for men’s tennis that there is a new face on the winning list.”

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^{Photo Credit: Peter Staples/USTA}
Thiem has proven he can compete with the best players in the world. When he is in full flight, the 17-time tour-level champion is capable of blasting through any opponent. It was ironic that in the biggest match of his life against Alexander Zverev, he relied a lot on his backhand slice in key moments, lengthening rallies as the match wore on. The Austrian admitted that nerves kept him from uncorking his signature one-handed backhand, especially towards the end of the five-setter.

“To pull off that shot, especially the backhand down the line, I need to feel free,” Thiem said. “I need to have a great acceleration in my wrist and my whole arm and I didn’t have it because of my nerves, because of my tightness. It was tough in the first two sets until I freed myself in the third.”

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Thiem turned things around just in time, becoming the first US Open champion in the Open Era to rally from two sets down in the final. Now the Austrian, who has competed in four Grand Slam finals, has plenty of cushion at No. 3 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. He only trails World No. 2 Rafael Nadal by 725 points.

If Thiem overtakes Nadal, he will become the first player outside of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and former World No. 1 Andy Murray to crack the Top 2 since Lleyton Hewitt in July 2005. Thiem is the 18th different World No. 3 since then, and the 11th of that group whose career-high remains No. 3.

“Honestly I didn’t think about the ranking at all so far. I was just fully focussed on the US Open the past weeks, but now the goal is to hopefully rise even higher in the rankings, which is super, super tough,” Thiem said. “We all know the two names who are in front of me, but now it’s time to enjoy this a little bit and then get ready for the French. It’s a great opportunity, two huge tournaments in a row and I’m looking forward to it.”

Dominic Thiem was tight. In fact, he himself acknowledged in his victorious US Open press conference that he was “super, super tight.”

“The problem was my nerves,” Thiem said post-match. In much the same way that Stan Wawrinka was shaking and crying in the locker room before defeating Novak Djokovic in four sets in the 2016 US Open final, Thiem said he was tight the whole day.

Because of the tightness, he quickly fell behind two sets to love and a break down in the third. Because as Thiem said, “the belief was stronger than the body,” he won his first Grand Slam title, defeating Alexander Zverev 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(6) in one of the most physically and mentally draining finals in recent times. Both players cramped at the end, their bodies failing them when they needed it most. Their minds went to hell and back trying to reach the finish line first.

Zverev was not tight at all to begin the match, but he too succumbed to nerves trying to close a huge lead instead of continuing to employ the aggressive, net-rushing game style that positioned him so far ahead in the match. Knowing that the wolves were howling in the head of both players during the final provides the necessary lens to understand the match analytics, which dramatically changed from beginning to end.

For example, Zverev had 10 forehand winners and 17 forehand errors in the first two sets. It was the most dominant shot on the court. In the remaining three sets, he only had seven forehand winners and committed 40 errors. Nerves mercilessly took this shot out at the knees.

At the 61-minute mark of the final, Thiem walked up to the baseline to serve trailing 6-2, 5-1, 30/40. He ended up saving three break points in that game, providing the first speck of light at the end of the tunnel. He reeled off three straight games to 4-5, including breaking Zverev for the first time in the match.

This is where the winds started to change for Thiem.

In Zverev’s post-match interview, he said, “The match turned when he broke me for the first time in the second set (at 5-2). I think he started playing much better and I started playing much worse.” If Zverev ever has any doubts about the game style best suited for his athletic 6’6” frame, he needs to look no further than the first 14 games of the final where he led 6-2, 5-1. He is a power baseliner who relentlessly hunts the short ball. And yes, serving and volleying is a line item that sits right at the top of the game plan.

Zverev Coming Forward
In the final, Zverev served and volleyed 40 times (a stat that includes aces, unreturned serves and five double faults, when he was moving forward), winning a commanding 68 per cent (27/40). Zverev won five of six points serving and volleying in the opening set, including serving and volleying on a second serve leading 2-1, 15-0. The strategy worked so well because Thiem stood as far back as possible to take up his return position, often times double checking where the linespeople were in his immediate vicinity, so as not to collide with them.

Zverev was credited with approaching the net 66 times in the match, winning a healthy 65 per cent (43/66) of points, which was far superior than the 45 per cent (72/160) he won standing at the baseline. With Thiem wanting to stand back as far as possible to return and rally, coming forward was the perfect antidote for Zverev.

Thiem Extending The Rallies
Zverev put on a north-south masterclass in the first two sets. Thiem desperately wanted to turn the match east-west and make it a groundstroke duel with lots of heavy topspin, heavy slice and side-to-side pain. He wanted to wear Zverev out and was willing to sacrifice every ounce of his own fitness to make it happen.

The average rally length of the five sets identifies exactly how Thiem scraped his way back into the match.

Average Rally Length

The average rally length in the fifth set (6.29 shots) was almost double that of the second set (3.30 shots) when Zverev was basically untouchable.

Double Faults
Zverev’s 15 double faults played a major part in him losing the final. He was broken seven times in the match, with seven double faults occurring in five of those service games. Two double faults reared their head in the fifth set tie-break.

Zverev saved one match point at 5-6 in the fifth set tie-break with a 68mph second serve that barely crept over the net. Serving at 3-4 in the fourth set, he hit seven second serves and was ultimately broken. One was a double fault, two were over 130mph, while the other four were 83mph and lower. Nobody knew what was coming or where they were landing, especially Zverev.

Distance Run
Overall, both players ran a 5K during the final, with Thiem running 5206 metres and Zverev running 5138 metres. The average distance run per point for Thiem was a lactic-acid-inducing 16.17 metres, with Zverev averaging 15.96 metres. Thiem’s desperate game plan of extending rallies to outlast Zverev was a dangerous one, as it took him to the very brink of exhaustion to pull it off. He could not stand still toward the end of the match for fear of his body locking up.

This final was about survival. It was about believing there was a way forward when one didn’t exist.

Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic, who have both reached the semi-finals at the Foro Italico, got off to winning starts on Monday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Dimitrov, the No. 15 seed and 2014 semi-finalist, proved to be too strong for Italian wild card Gianluca Mager 7-5, 6-1 in 74 minutes. From 5-5 in the first set, Dimitrov won seven straight games for his 10th victory of the season. He awaits the winner of Yoshihito Nishioka and Miomir Kecmanovic, who lifted his first ATP Tour title at the Generali Open on Sunday.

Cilic, who lost to Alexander Zverev in the Rome semi-finals two years ago, worked hard to beat Alexander Bublik 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and 14 minutes for a place in the second round.

Cilic could not convert a set point on Bublik’s serve at 4-5, 30/40 and subsequently saved four break points in his next service game. Cilic broke in the first and seventh games of the second set, and moved clear early in the decider to set up a clash against sixth seed David Goffin.

Novak Djokovic played an epic five-setter in this year’s Australian Open final to lift his 17th Grand Slam trophy. That victory came at Dominic Thiem’s expense, sending the Austrian to 0-3 in major finals. The Serbian was pleased to see the 27-year-old finally break through at a Slam on Sunday evening by winning the US Open.

“Dominic deserves this title probably more than anybody. He’s such a nice guy, and he works extremely hard. He was so close in the past couple of years and finally he has it,” Djokovic said. “It would be interesting to see how his career goes on from here, but it’s a huge relief.”

Thiem echoed those sentiments after his five-set victory against Alexander Zverev, adding that he believes he will play even freer at the biggest tournaments now. Djokovic recalls how he felt after winning his first major at the 2008 Australian Open.

“I remember my first Grand Slam title, obviously getting that first monkey out of your back, in a way, to say it’s a huge relief. After that you start believing in yourself much more and feeling maybe a bit less pressure and expectations from yourself to win Slams,” Djokovic said. “Both of these guys possess a huge tennis quality on all surfaces to win titles and Grand Slams. We have Roland Garros coming in a couple weeks’ time, and Dominic is right behind Rafa, on clay [as] the favourite to go all the way.”

Djokovic watched the first four sets of the US Open final. One of the things he was most impressed by was the respect Thiem and Zverev, who are good friends, showed each other inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“We all know that they are good friends and you could see how much they wanted to win, of course, [the] final of a Slam. They both were fighting for the first Grand Slam title and both of them were bringing a lot of intensity on the court, but never disrespecting each other,” Djokovic said. “That struck me the most, to be honest, the appreciation, respect, and friendship that they showed. I think it’s a great message to all of the tennis players and the sports world in general.”

Overall, the World No. 1 was happy to see both men competing under the spotlight in the final of a Grand Slam.

“I want to congratulate both of these guys. I want to congratulate them, of course, for their achievements. To get to the final for Sascha for the first time and to play for two-and-a-half sets the way he played was really impressive, and he was very close to winning it. Then again, he served for the match in the fifth,” Djokovic said. “For Dominic to lose three finals and start the match not on a very high level but then come back and win in such fashion is very inspiring, and they deserve a lot of credit.”

Djokovic is the top seed at this week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, where he is a four-time champion. It is an extra-special week for the Serbian, who on Monday tied Pete Sampras for the second-most weeks (286) as the No. 1 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings.

The 33-year-old admitted that the quick post-US Open turnaround to clay has been “unusual”, but he is thankful to have opportunities to play during these unprecedented times. He believes that the clay favourite is clear.

“Rafa obviously decided to stay on clay and practise. Surely that gives him more advantage, but even if he didn’t practise for that long on clay, he would still be the number one favorite [at] Roland Garros or any other clay tournament because he’s Rafa,” Djokovic said. “Playing on clay, he’s the ultimate challenge.

“But for most of the other guys, of course, it’s going to be [an] adjustment challenge [to see] how quickly can we adapt, how quickly can we adjust to this new surface. Let’s see. I did have four or five days of training, coming here, couple more days of training before my first match. I think it is sufficient. But let’s see on the court.”

Rafael Nadal is excited to be back on the ATP Tour in Rome, where he will be attempting to capture a 10th title this week at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

“Rome is always exciting,” said Nadal, via a virtual press conference on Monday. “It’s one of the most important events in the world, without a doubt. And at the same time, of course, it will not be the same with no crowd and, being in the bubble, not being able to enjoy a little bit the city. But at least we have a tennis tournament here in Rome. That’s positive and I happy for that.”

Nadal arrived on Wednesday in Rome, for the second of three ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in 2020. He is scheduled to play Pablo Carreno Busta in his first match at the Foro Italico.

“I arrived in plenty of time to try and have the right practices,” said Nadal, who hasn’t competed since 29 February due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. “You need matches to feel 100 per cent… I’m excited about going back to competition, without big expectations. I know I have a tough first [match] against Pablo. He’s playing great. So let’s see, it’s going to be a good test.

“[My] expectation is to always go on court and try to feel competitive. That’s the first goal. Go on court, feel [that I’m] competitive, and then I will see how I feel and what kind of goals I can look for.”

The 33-year-old, who captured the 85th trophy of his career at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC (d. Fritz) in February, admitted that he had watched the first four sets of Sunday’s US Open final between Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev.

“I’m happy for Dominic,” said Nadal, who defeated Thiem in the 2018 and 2019 Roland Garros finals. “He’s somebody who deserves to win a big title. He’s a super hard worker. Very focused on his goals. [A] good person, [a] good human person. He deserves it.

“[I’m] sorry for Sascha. He was close, but in some ways, I think even if Sascha played a great final for moments, I think that the road to that final from Dominic was a little bit more solid… Sascha will have probably more chances in the future.”

Daniil Medvedev has become the fourth singles player to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November. He joins Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem as the tournament marks the 50th anniversary of its inception in 1970.

Medvedev, who competed at the season finale last year for the first time, went 4-1 for Team Russia at the inaugural ATP Cup in January and reached the US Open semi-finals (l. to Thiem) last week. He is the first Russian to qualify in consecutive years since 2009 Nitto ATP Finals champion Nikolay Davydenko (2005-2009).

Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas is next in line to qualify at No. 6 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. Alexander Zverev, who lost to Thiem in his first Grand Slam championship final at the US Open on Sunday, is also in contention to return to The O2 in London. Two years ago, Zverev became the first German titlist at the year-end championship since Boris Becker in 1995.

Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares have joined Australian Open winners Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the 2020 doubles field after picking up their first major team trophy at the US Open (d. Koolhof/Mektic).

In line with existing UK Government guidance, the ATP currently plans to hold the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals behind closed doors due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Nitto ATP Finals, featuring the best eight singles players and doubles teams, has been held in London since 2009 and has successfully established itself as one of the major annual sporting events worldwide. The tournament is broadcast in more than 180 territories with global viewership reaching an average of 95 million each year. The event will be held in Turin, Italy, from 2021-2025.

Dominic Thiem fell on his back inside Arthur Ashe Stadium at 8:19 p.m. Sunday evening. After a wild four hours and one minute of back-and-forth action in the US Open final, the Austrian briefly stared up into the New York night before covering his face with his hands for five seconds. The Austrian was in disbelief. He had finally accomplished his lifelong dream of winning a Grand Slam title.

“It was such a big relief,” said Thiem, who rallied past Alexander Zverev 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(6). “It’s just the highest thing [that] you can achieve in tennis.”

The second seed became the first player in the Open Era to overcome a two-set deficit in the US Open final, battling from the brink of defeat on numerous occasions and overcoming visible cramping towards the end of the fifth set. In the end it didn’t matter how he did it. Thiem was just thrilled he made his dream come true.

“I achieved a life goal, a dream [for] myself, which I had for many, many years. Of course [I had that dream] as a kid as well when I started to play tennis. But back then it was so far away,” Thiem said. “At one point I realised that, ‘Wow, maybe one day I can really win one of the four biggest titles in tennis.’ I put a lot of work in. I dedicated basically my whole life until this point to win one of the four majors. Now I did it.”

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Thiem was desperate to lift a major trophy. Three times previously he had reached the final of a Grand Slam and fallen short. He entered Sunday’s US Open championship match as the favourite for the first time. The Austrian was so agonisingly close to achieving his biggest goal. That made it even more difficult for him to win.

“Maybe it was not even good that I played in previous major finals,” Thiem said.

Nobody on the ATP Tour swings freer than Thiem. The Austrian is known for his massive groundstrokes and incredible shotmaking. If there’s one player who doesn’t get cheated when he swings, it’s Thiem.

But in the biggest match of his career, the 27-year-old’s loose swings were restricted. The more Thiem wanted the trophy, the tighter he got.

“I wanted this title so much and of course [it] was also in my head that if I lost this one, it’s 0-4 [in major finals],” Thiem said. “It’s always in your head: ‘Is this chance ever coming back again?’ This, that, all these thoughts, which are not great to play your best tennis, to play free.”

When Zverev broke in the third set to move close to victory, it was a tough moment for Thiem. His dream was slipping away. But he never gave up hope.

“It was tough to stay there and to still believe. But I did. It’s a Slam final,” Thiem said. “I always had hope and the expectation that at one point I’d free up. Luckily it was not too late when I broke him back in the third set. The belief was always there. From that moment, when I broke him back for [2-2] in the third set, the belief got stronger and stronger.”

Full credit goes to Zverev for playing some of his best tennis to put Thiem in a deep hole. The Austrian expected an “open match” when he walked on court. Despite leading their ATP Head2Head series 7-2, Thiem knew he was facing a tough foe. Even after turning around the match and leading by a break in the fifth set, the second seed couldn’t run away with it. Zverev refused to go down without a fight.

It was ironic that Thiem, who is known for his cannon-like one-handed backhand, which he launches both cross-court and down the line, physically couldn’t use that shot down the stretch. With his legs almost gone, Thiem holstered that weapon and often used his slice to avoid swinging himself out of the match.

“The belief in myself [was] not enough because Sascha, I’m sure he believed himself as well 100 per cent,” Thiem said. “Two guys like that played a match against each other. That’s obviously how it finished, in a fifth-set tie-break.”

When Thiem is at his soaring best, he is capable of taking the match to anyone in the world. Now that he has finally made his dream come true, the Austrian believes he’ll be able to perform at an even higher level.

“I expect that it’s going to be easier for me now in the biggest tournaments because, of course, I had it in the back of my head that I had a great career so far, way better career than I could ever dreamt of. But until today there was still a big part, a big goal missing,” Thiem said. “With this goal achieved, I think and I hope that I’m going to be a little bit more relaxed and play a little bit more freely at the biggest events.”

No matter what happens in the future, Thiem will never forget this moment. His body nor a game opponent were able to stop him. Nobody will ever be able to take away Thiem’s Grand Slam trophy.

“It was the first time [in] years and years that I was cramping. But I guess it was not physical cramps, it was mentally. I was super, super tight the whole day actually and then in the beginning of the match,” Thiem said. “Somehow the belief today was stronger than the body and I’m super happy about that.”