At a US Open unlike any other, Dominic Thiem constructed a comeback the likes of which hadn’t been in 71 years.
After dropping the opening two sets against Alexander Zverev at a nearly empty Arthur Ashe Stadium — fans were banned because of the coronavirus pandemic — Thiem slowly but surely turned things around for a 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory across more than four hours to earn his first major championship.
The 27-year-old from Austria is the first man to win the American Grand Slam tournament after trailing 2-0 in sets in the final since Pancho Gonzales did it against Ted Schroeder in 1949 at an event then known as the US Championships. Not only that, but in a fitting finish to an unprecedented two weeks, this match was decided by a fifth-set tiebreaker, something that had never happened in the final.
Dominic Thiem is the first player since 1949 to win the US Open men's singles title having dropped the first two sets. The last was Pancho Gonzales. Thiem is the fifth in Open Era to come from two sets down to win a Grand Slam final. Bjorn Borg (1974), Ivan Lendl (1984), Andre Agassi (1999) and Gaston Gaudio (2004) have done it earlier and all at Roland Garros.
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