The US Open finals concluded like no other. The game proceeded into an unprecedented fifth-set tiebreaker. Dominic Thiem marked history, as he became the first man in 71 years to attain the finals after losing the first two sets.
The final scoreboard read 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(6) triumph for Dominic Thiem. Alexander Zverev stated “The match turned when he broke me for the first time in the third set. He started playing much better and I started playing much worse.”
The game went on for 4 hours and 2 minutes. Soon Zverev was winning with 2 sets but Thiem showed stature and made a world-class comeback to gain his 1st Grand Slam title.
The 27-year old Austrian said, “Somehow, the belief today was stronger than the body, and I’m super happy about that.”
The event had never witnessed a triumph through a fifth tiebreaker. Moreover, no major tournament had ever witnessed so until Novak Djokovic edged Roger Federer that way at Wimbledon in 2019. Dominic Thiem’s opportunity of winning his first Grand Slam was increased by many folds when Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the tournament.
The fifth set was just as back and forth as the other sets.
The mistakes kept rising along with tension. Thiem broke in the opening game when Zverev shanked a pair of forehands. Zverev broke right back as he roared “Come on!” in an attempt to intimidate his opponent.
However, Thiem was more composed now and Zverev faltered. Following that Zverev gave away three straight points to Dominic Thiem as the score was 6-5, making Thiem the King of Meadows.
Thiem and Zverev combined for 120 unforced errors to only 95 winners. In a curious parallel, Zverev balanced his 15 aces with 15 double faults, and Thiem had eight in each category.
