Dominic Thiem booked his place in his third Grand Slam championship final on Friday with a hard-fought win at the Australian Open.
The fourth seed battled back from losing the first set, and saved two set points in the third set of a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(4) victory over first-time major semi-finalist, Alexander Zverev, the seventh seed from Germany, in three hours and 42 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
“It was an unreal match, two tie-breaks, so tough and so close,” Thiem told former World No. 1 John McEnroe in an on-court interview. “It was almost impossible to break him, with [him getting in] such a high percentage of first serves. An Australian Open is unreal, and what a start to the season so far.”
Thiem is the first Austrian to reach the Australian Open final, where he will look to beat second seed and seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. The 26-year-old has previously finished as runner-up to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros in 2018 and 2019.
Source: theguardian.com
