Both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were not in the US Open Tennis tournament. Novak Djokovic also defaulted from the US Open after being disqualified. The three bigs were absent in the US Open. But in such a situation, the emergence of Austria’s Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev, who sustained the real thrill of the game till the end, was actually the real victory for the game itself.
Thiem’s achievement as champion cannot be under- estimated simply because the three stalwarts, the big three, were not in the event. It is worth recalling how Djokovic had done the same after defeating Federer nine years ago. And he did not take much time to be in the big three of tennis.
Dominic Thiem has entered the final of a grand slam tournament on three occasions earlier. But in the French Open, Rafael Nadal and in the Australia Open, Djokovic has given him setbacks. But last year, he was on a winning streak. He defeated Djokovic in French Open last year and before this he had defeated Roger Federer in BNP Paribas Open of Indian Wells, and again on another occasion defeated Nadal and Murray. This way he has turned the tables on his rivals in a big way. Given this kind of performance, the future competitions will be taken seriously.
It is really admirable how he made a comeback after losing two sets to Germany’s Alexander Zverev and became champion at the end of the game. He has tremendous stamina. Secondly, he has a powerful game along the baseline. He has a strong backhand skill. By virtue of these three qualities, he has been giving tough challenges to the big three Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
Be that as it may, the US Open has got a new champion. And he is from a country from where nobody has ever won this championship. Austria’s Dominic Thiem has done it. The reality is that the name of Thomas Muster has been heard over the last 20 to 25 years from this country, who had won French Open in 1995. But with the achievement of Dominic, the tennis game will be emerging again in Austria and there will be several champions from there.
He could get good command of the game and good practice due to winning two sets in the tie-breaker against Daniil Medvedev in the semi- final. Then winning the trophy after losing two sets to Alexander Zverev of Germany was not less than any miracle. Thiem’s backhand proved to be strength for him, but at the same time Zverev’s backhand proved to be the reason for his defeat. This turned out to be a big difference between both of them in the last three sets. Thiem made fewer mistakes than Zverev. Zverev seemed to have over-confidence and a bit of arrogance due to his fast service but he needs to focus on his second service. As the less speed and force in second service created so much pressure on him that he was seen doing double fault on many occasions in the final. There is no place for unforced error and double faults in the final. Zverev loosened the grip on the game due to these errors.
If Thiem wants to take the level of his game to higher rung and to become a real challenge to the big three in future games then he will have to bring more speed in his service. You can get benefits in French Open with good baseliner but he will have to struggle hard to win Wimbledon with his playing style. At the same time, Zverev needs to avoid making errors at the sensitive stages of the game in future. He should increase his stamina. He has a good height. His reach to the ball is also good. He gets advantage of the first good service. But he needs to raise the level of his game because he will have more competent challengers in future.