Thiem ready to snatch Australian crown by adding to win record over ‘king’ Djokovic
Dominic Thiem will try to dethrone the “king” of Rod Laver Arena when he plays in his third Grand Slam final at the Australian Open tomorrow.
The 26-year-old Austrian followed up his stunning win over Rafael Nadal by defeating Alexander Zverev 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) in another tense encounter in yesterday’s semi-final.
Once thought of as a claycourter, Thiem is now one of the best players in the world on hard courts and, after final losses to Nadal at the French Open in the last two years, he will now take on Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park.
These who defeated roger Federer on Thursday, has won all of his seven finals here and already holds the men’s record for most titles won.
Thiem said with a wry smile:
“I’m always facing the kings of a grand slam in the final. We are playing in tough times, we young players. We always have to beat all these unbelievable legends. Of course, Rafa won Paris 12 times, Nole [Djokovic] here seven times. That’s an unbelievable achievement. But I try to take my experience [from] the last two major finals and try to improve even more.
“I think I did that from 2018 to ’19 in Paris, and I tried to improve even more now. In this one I have the feeling that I have great experience now. I’m feeling that I can really keep up my level for all the two weeks.”
To reach the final at Roland Garros last June, Thiem overcame Djokovic in five sets, ending the world No 2’s hopes of four straight slam titles.
Of their last five meetings, the Austrian has won four – including a brilliant encounter at the ATP Finals in London in November, where Thiem went on to make the final.
“It’s true, I won more of the last encounters than he did,” said Thiem. “But I think it doesn’t count so much.
“It’s absolutely his comfort zone here. He always plays his best tennis in Australia since many, many years. So I’m expecting that as well in the finals.
“I think I have to keep a good balance. Of course, I have to risk a lot. I have to go for many shots. At the same time, not too much. That’s a very thin line. In the last match against him, I hit that line perfectly in London.
“I’m feeling good on the court. I’m playing great tennis. So I’ll try to be at my absolute best on Sunday.”