27-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem beat German Alexander Zverev 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (6) at the Arthur Ashe Stadium to win the 2020 US Open men’s singles title and his first major championship. In the process, he became the first in the Open Era to win the US Open singles title after dropping the first two sets.
In 1949, Pancho Gonzales had beaten Ted Schroeder after trailing 2-0 in the final of the event then known as the US Championships.
Played without an audience, the grueling match that lasted a little over four hours was more a battle of nerves and mental fortitude, and Thiem kept his cool to sneak a stupendous victory.
There are quite a few interesting records that Thiem set after his win – he became the first Grand Slam champion to be born in the 1990s. Also, he became the second Austrian after Thomas Muster to win a major championship. Muster won the men’s singles title at the French Open in 1995.
Down but never out.
Dominic Thiem comes back from two sets down and defeats Zverev, 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6.
Insanity. pic.twitter.com/aVf9PkxJBh
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 14, 2020
“I expect it’s going to be easier for me now in the biggest tournaments,” said Thiem, who became the first player outside Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer to win a Grand Slam title since Stan Wawrinka’s 2016 U.S. Open victory.
“I had it in the back of my head that I had a great career so far, way better than I could ever dreamt of, but until today there was still a big goal missing.
“With this achieved, I hope that I’m going to be a little bit more relaxed and play a little bit more freely at the biggest events.”
US Open Women’s Singles title
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Naomi Osaka from Japan beat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus to win the women’s singles title at the US Open. This was her second US Open title – she won her first title at the Flushing Meadows in 2018 – and her third overall Grand Slam win. The fourth seeded Osaka came from a set down to win the final match 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
She became the first women’s player in 26 years to win the US Open women’s singles title after dropping the first set in the final match – the last was Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.
With this win, Naomi Osaka has won all the three Grand Slam finals that she has been a part of. She is the fifth woman to win first three majors finals of her career in Open Era after Virginia Wade, Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport and Monica Seles.
Across the tournament, Osaka – a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement – wore masks in memory of and to honour victims of racial injustice and police brutality: she donned seven masks bearing the names of Black Americans Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd and Philando Castile. In the finals, she wore a mask bearing the name of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy killed by police in Cleveland in 2014.
Naomi Osaka brought seven face masks to the US Open.
Each mask highlights a different Black victim of racial injustice and police brutality.
– Breonna Taylor
– Elijah McClain
– Ahmaud Arbery
– Trayvon Martin
– George Floyd
– Philando CastileToday: Tamir Rice
— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) September 12, 2020
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