Austria Gains First 5th-Set Victory of Open Era
The Austrian ATP World No. 3, professional tennis player Dominic Thiem just gained a victory in the US Open 2020 after being down by 2 sets and then playing a match that broke the tie in the fifth and final set of the season in yesterday’s first historic event of its kind in the Open Era. This Grand Slam was won by only the fifth player who was down by 2 sets.
Before Thiem’s victory last night at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York on the fourteenth day of the US Open, the last four wins had taken place in 2004, 1999, 1984, and 1974, all at the French Open. However, a win that was decided through the fifth set at a Grand Slam Open Era event had never happened before, and Thiem holds the championship trophy and bragging rights to the first victory of its kind.
Dominic Thiem had been down two sets with 2-6 and 4-6 against German tennis professional Alexander Zverev, then came right around with sets of 6-4 and 6-3. But it was the 7-6(6) that broke the tie between the finalists of the event, crowning Thiem champion for his maiden Grand Slam title.
Thiem is a 27-year-old Open Era player who has set several first and broken records in just 5 sets of tennis play in one day. Besides the aforementioned victories and records, he is also the first 90s-born tennis pro to become a champion and the 150th all time champion! Guess this US Open will go down in the books! He also won 163 points against Zverev’s 159, and ended up winning a massive US$53.4 million in prize money.
At the end, Thiem thanked Zverev via a tweet, showing their closeness, friendship, and court rivalry:
This match truly deserved more than one champion and I'm sure that you @AlexZverev will also lift this trophy sometimes soon. Thank you for being a great rival and more so for being a real friend on tour.
— Dominic Thiem (@ThiemDomi) September 14, 2020
The team at Media Quotient Inc. wishes Dominic Thiem congratulations and wishes the best to Alex Zverev for the next Grand Slam championships!
Credit: Getty Images
