After a 4 hour plus match on Arthur Ashe Stadium this afternoon, Dominic Thiem of Austria defeated Alexander Zverev to claim the victory at this year’s US Open.
Thiem struggled out the gate, having his serve broken twice by the young German who quickly claimed the opening set. Soon after, Thiem was broken again, and quickly was staring down the barrel of an 0-2 deficit. However, the Austrian dug in deep, coming back from a break down in the third set, and then claiming the fourth 6-3/
The fifth set was filled with unforced errors and tired legs, which provided the opportunity for both players to serve out the match (which both failed to do), ultimately needing a tiebreak to decide the final. Zverev saved two championship points before Dominic closed it out 8-6.
This was the first Grand Slam final without a member of the big 3 since 2014, so it may be a while before either Dominic or Zverev are able to compete for another. Zverev, up until this tournament, had never made it past a quarter final at any of the four Slams. So, if anything, the German and his staff can take pride in the great progress they have made in New York.
Dominic had previously encountered Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final of this year, at one point leading 2-1 before the Djoker stormed back to take the trophy (his record 8th AO title).
Congratulations Dominic !