Dominic Thiem route to French Open final: Novak Djokovic stunned, Rafael Nadal next?
Dominic Thiem route to French Open final: The Austrian finds himself in his second successive French Open final looking for his maiden Grand Slam title - but how did he get here?
French Open: Thiem looks ahead to 'tough' final against Nadal
Dominic Thiem is widely regarded as the second best clay-court player on the planet after ‘The King of Clay’ himself Rafael Nadal and is in the French Open final for the second straight year.
The 25-year-old has made at least the semi-finals of the clay-court slam since 2016, despite having failed to get past the fourth round stage at any of the ATP Tour’s three other slams until he made the last eight of the US Open last September.
The world No 4 has not yet won a major title having been beaten by Nadal in straight sets 12 months ago, going down 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
But Thiem will get a second shot at dethroning the Spaniard this afternoon on Court Philippe-Chatrier after two weeks of rain-interrupted play.
The 13-time titlist, the tournament’s fourth seed, has enjoyed a strong fortnight at Roland Garros after an initially-tough start and this was his route to a second straight final in Paris.
First round
Thiem started his tournament with a win over American wild card Tommy Paul and faced unexpected difficulties in his opening match.
But a third-set tie-break - in which Paul led 4-0 at one point - proved crucial as Thiem overcame a sloppy performance to go through.
Thiem bt Tommy Paul 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
Second round
A two-hour, 30-minute defeat of Kazakhstani Alexander Bublik won over on centre court followed but Thiem was made to work hard for this victory.
After dropping the second set and trailing 2-5 in the fourth, Thiem won 21 of the final 27 points to survive a scare against the world No 91.
Thiem bt Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-7 (8-6), 6-3, 7-5
Third round
After overcoming Paul and Bublik, Thiem was taken to four sets again by Argentina’s Pablo Cuevas, an expert on the red dirt.
Thiem was well on top in the first set but struggled in the set and had to produce a much-improved third before seeing out victory.
Thiem bt Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
Fourth round
Thiem responded to his toughest challenge yet with his best performance yet against Frenchman Gael Monfils, sweeping the No 14 seed aside in a fine showing.
The Austrian even hit a stunning tweener winner at 1-1 in the third set to stun the Philippe-Chatrier crowd and leave Monfils to laugh and applaud.
Thiem bt Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
French Open: Dominic Thiem defeats Djokovic in semi-final
Quarter-finals
Karen Khachanov appeared a real threat in the last eight but Thiem dealt with the towering Russian’s power in an hour and 47 minutes with aplomb.
Tenth-seeded Khachanov admitted after: “I felt today that he’s one of the best on clay. I felt in on court, not only talking. Today was really tough for me.”
Thiem bt Karen Khachanov 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
Semi-finals
The win over Khachanov set up a thrilling showdown with Novak Djokovic that took two sessions that amassed four hours and 13 minutes to complete.
Rain delays did not dampen an epic clash as Thiem was taken to five sets for the first time to stun world No 1 Djokovic, who was looking to win his fourth successive Grand Slam and had been on a 26-match winning run at the majors.
Thiem bt Novak Djokovic 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 5-7, 7-5
Final
Thiem again faces Nadal in the final, a man whom he has never beaten at the French Open.
He does however boast four wins against the 17-time Grand Slam winner across his career, all of which have come on clay.
Their last meeting saw Thiem beat Nadal 6-4, 6-4 at the Barcelona Open in the semi-finals before he beat Daniil Medvedev in the final.