Australian Open 2020

Dominic Thiem beats Zverev to set up Djokovic clash in Australian Open final

• Austrian beats German 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4)
• Thiem: ‘Now I’m facing the King of Australia’

It is rare that a player wins a slam by beating both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, in either order, in the same fortnight. Stan Wawrinka did it here in 2014 and Roger Federer came within two points of doing it at Wimbledon last year in a final against the Serbian that left him shattered.

So, Dominic Thiem, who defeated Nadal in the quarter-finals two days ago and reached the final with an intelligent dismantling of his dangerous but frenzied German friend, Alexander Zverev, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), in the second semi-final on Friday, will join an elite group if he can overcome Djokovic on Sunday. It is the tallest of orders.

As Thiem said courtside on Friday,: “I’m always facing the kings of the grand slams in finals. I lost to Rafa twice at Roland Garros. Now I’m facing Novak. He’s the king of Australia.”

He added: “It was an unreal match, two tie-breaks, so tough and so close. It is hard to break him [Zverev]. He had such a high percentage on his first serve [81%]. After playing four hours and 10 minutes against Rafa, I was in bed around 5am. It was not easy to recover, but the adrenaline came. Still, I had some troubles. We started with two breaks in our first semi-final here.

“In the semi-finals of a slam, the level is so high and there are so many key moments, such as at the end of the second set. Then I was two set points down in the fourth, and saved [for the tie-break]. At the start of the fourth I was feeling nervous, putting so much effort, feeling my stomach, it was rebelling a little bit.

“Sascha had a horrible ATP Cup and he worked so hard in preparation week for here. We’ve known he’s a great player for a very long time. Either of us could have won today. He’s still only 22. We won’t have to wait long until he’s in his first grand slam final.”

Thiem, at 26, is in his third against the defending champion reaching for his eighth Australian title and 17th major. History is weighing Thiem down elsewhere; he would be the first man born in the 1990s to win a major, and that would place him at the forefront of the new wave of challengers to the hegemony of the Big Three.

Both players were edgy in the early exchanges and it became obvious that, if neither could build an extended stretch of dominance, the match would go long. Zverev hit some huge winners to take the first set in 40 minutes, but Thiem, more defensive, recovered to level in exactly the same time.

The lights over one baseline failed briefly at the start of the third set – appropriate, perhaps, as both were playing lights-out tennis – and there was a seven-minute delay. The interruption seemed to disrupt Thiem, who missed a chance to go two games clear, more than it did Zverev who got back on serve and then pressured the Austrian for the rest of the frame.

Angered that a clean free-pointer was called out and not overruled – he had no challenges left – Zverev drilled a pair of statement aces and carried his rage into the next game, the longest to that point in the set. But Thiem stood firm, saving two break points, then forcing the tie-break after a love hold by Zverev.

While the German had outserved Thiem, the Austrian was playing the big moments more calmly, and went a set up with a superbly angled backhand.

Now small distractions invaded Zverev’s concentration. The match was heading for three hours, at 15-all in the second game of the fourth set, when, having already questioned the reliability of the let machine, he complained to the chair umpire about a screen high in the arena that clicked with fresh statistics after each point. In as much as it was in his line of vision, it had been like that throughout the tournament.

He held, but Thiem’s mood had switched from concerned to convinced he could win. It was the look he had when beating Nadal in the quarter-finals. But looks don’t win matches; points do.

Zverev was hitting with more venom, Thiem had relaxed certainty on his racket and, receiving in the ninth game, he worked his way to within two points of reaching the final. Zverev held for 5-5, and again, nervously, for the second tie-break.

There he double-faulted and made a mess of a routine smash at 2-4. He served at 4-6 but could do nothing about Thiem’s delicate volley at the end of three hours and 42 minutes of very good tennis.