Advertisement

Dominic Thiem rallies, wins US Open after wild fifth-set tiebreak with Alexander Zverev

ryan young
Staff writer
·3 min read

It took him a while to get going — in fact, almost too long — but Dominic Thiem picked up his first Grand Slam title on Sunday night.

Thiem, after dropping into a 2-0 hole early, rallied all the way back to beat Alexander Zverev in a fifth-set tiebreak to win the US Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The win, which took more than four hours, marks the first time an Austrian has ever won the US Open. Thiem is also the first to ever come back from two sets down in a US Open singles final to win, and the first men’s Grand Slam champion who was born in the 1990s.

Thiem rallies out of 2-0 hole

Zverev looked in control of the match early on Sunday, hitting 138 mph with his serve as he notched four aces, won two break points and cruised to a 6-2 win in the opening set.

Dominic Thiem wins the US Open
It took more than four hours, and a tiebreak in the fifth set, but Dominic Thiem won the US Open. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Theim avoided another break point from Zverev to start off the second set, but he couldn’t keep Zverev at bay for long and fell into a 5-1 hole almost instantly. While Theim mustered a brief rally, winning three straight games, it was too late. Zverev finally closed out the second set 6-4.

Theim finally closed out a set in the third, winning 6-4 while taking advantage of 12 unforced errors from Zverev. He took the next set 6-3, too, after Zverev made another 12 unforced errors, evening the match and forcing a fifth.

Thiem tied up the fifth set 5-5 with an incredible shot, and then broke Zverev to take a 6-5 lead.

While he had the chance to serve for a title, Zverev broke him to force a tiebreaker.

Zverev quickly pushed to a 2-0 lead in the tiebreak, but a pair of double faults opened the door right back for Thiem — who flipped the tables to grab a 6-4 lead. After a perfect shot to take a 7-6 lead, Zverev’s return landed out to give Thiem the win — which sent him collapsing to the court in exhaustion.

“It’s amazing how far away our journey brought us to share this moment with you, and really I wish for you we could have two winners today,” Thiem said to Zverev on the court. “We both deserved it … You’re going to make it 100 percent. You’re going to make your parents proud, your family proud at home.”

More from Yahoo Sports: