Australian Open: Only Dominic Thiem seems ripe for the changing of the guard
Of all the highly traded youngsters before the Australian Open 2020 , only Dominic Thiem was able to play close to winning the title.
by Robin Huiber
last edit: Feb 03, 2020, 07:44 am
And so Dominic Thiem spoke that the big favorite had to struggle, but the risk of defeat for these favorites was extremely manageable. True words of the Austrian, but pronounced on the eve of his quarter-final game of the 2018 US Open against Rafael Nadal . The Spaniard had previously struggled with Karen Khachanov, but after four tough sets, he left the Arthur Ashe Stadium as an undamaged winner.
How close was Thiem to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open on Sunday, what tennis observers have been selling as a changing of the guard for years? Namely a success of the generation after Djokovic, Federer and Nadal against one of these three big, probably greatest of all time. How close was Daniil Medvedev in the US Open 2019 final against Nadal? This match had finally gone the full distance.
Only Tsitsipas beat Federer
The outsiders had their chances there as well: Medvedev against Nadal at the beginning of the fifth set, when the Russian had just made up for a 0-2 set deficit. Thiem again at the beginning of the fourth round, with a 2: 1 set in the back. But it was not for nothing that the last 13 majors went to the Big Three. The last relative outsider to succeed with a major was Stan Wawrinka in New York in 2016. At that time, however, Stan had also started with two Grand Slam titles decorated.
With the exception of Dominic Thiem, who has of course also been 26 years old, only Stefanos Tsitsipas out of the change of guard candidates managed to beat Roger Federer in a major. Alexander Zverev reached the semifinals of a major in Melbourne for the first time, but the German number one did not prove that he could beat Djokovic or Nadal or Federer in a best-of-five match, nor did Daniil Medvedev. Or Matteo Berrettini, who had made it to the last round of the US Open last year.
Thiem to Paris with confidence
Dominic Thiem has left the Australian Open knowing that he is now able to defeat Rafael Nadal at a Grand Slam gymnast. It should not be against Djokovic this time, the overall record against the Serb is 2: 2. The fact that both successes came at the French Open will already give the Austrian confidence for the tournament at the Bois de Boulogne at the end of May. All other aspirants have to earn this confidence in direct duels with the Big Three.
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