Thiem knocks out Djokovic in the ATP finals

“I thought after my first big title at the US Open in New York I would be calmer. It was a mistake, I’m more nervous than ever,” said Dominic Thiem after his 300th ATP Tour win on record.

The match against Djokovic was “on the brink”, so he was “incredibly happy” to have crossed the finish line, the Austrian continued.

In the first sentence, Thiem once again demonstrated what makes him so strong right now besides playful class: his determination in the important points and the decisive stages.

In the eleventh game, the 27-year-old took advantage of the game’s first break opportunity for 6: 5 and then served the set at home.

The meeting between the number one and the number three in the world remained a tightrope duel, almost as a result the second set went to the tiebreak.

This time, however, it was Djokovic who showed up with the strongest nerves. The Serbian rejected four (!) Match points from his opponent and won with 12:10. At this point, exactly two hours had been played.

Thiem was not impressed with his missed opportunities to make the finals perfect in the second set and continued to play at a very high level.

Djokovic didn’t give up either, so the third movement turned into a detective thriller and ended with a tiebreaker that was difficult.

The 17-time Grand Slam tournament winner initially took a 4-0 lead, Thiem responded with five points in a row and eventually took over with 7: 5.

“It was a mental fight,” said the reigning US Open champion. “It is always something very special to play against such a legend and it was also very special to play here for the final.”

In the fight for his first title at the end of the season, Thiem will now face Daniil Medvedev or Rafael Nadal, who will play the second semifinal in the evening (from 21:00 on live ticker on Eurosport.de).

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