Thiem: “It’s Going To Be Stuck In My Mind Forever”

There was little consolation for Dominic Thiem in the aftermath of another heart-breaking exit at the US Open.

Last year, it was Juan Martin del Potro who clawed back two match points in the fourth round. At 2:04 a.m. local time on Wednesday, it was World No. 1 Rafael Nadal who savoured his own fifth-set victory.

“It’s going to be stuck in my mind forever,” said Thiem. “I’m going to remember this match, for sure. Tennis is cruel sometimes, because I think this match didn’t really deserve a loser. But there has to be one.”

Thiem had recovered from 0/40 at 5-5 in the deciding set, then come within three points of winning the match at 5/4 in the tie-break. He won 171 total points to Nadal’s 165 in their first hard-court meeting, but it was the defending champion who triumphed 0-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(5) in four hours and 48 minutes.

Asked if he would learn anything from the epic encounter, Thiem admitted, “Not really. I would say the first really epic match I played. I played some good ones before, but not that long. Not that long against the great guys on the Grand Slam stage.

“I’m happy that I did this for the first time, even if it went the wrong way. Of course, now I’m devastated a little bit. But in a few days, I will look back and will remember how great it was to play in front of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium in this great match.”

Thiem will now look to step up his bid for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals for the third consecutive year. The 25-year-old is currently in eight position in the ATP Race To London just 85 points behind seventh-placed Kevin Anderson, who lost in the US Open fourth round.

He has a 42-15 match record on the season, which includes two ATP World Tour titles at the Argentina Open (d. Bedene) and the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon (d. Simon). He also reached the Mutua Madrid Open final (l. to Zverev) and his first Grand Slam championship final at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal).