Using Dominic Thiem and Pablo Carreño Busta as an example: US Open as a grand slam of great pressure
The US Open 2020 are a thing of the past and have brought to light Dominic Thiem, a new major champion. The way there was mainly shaped by one thing: Great pressure from all those involved.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Sep 17, 2020, 04:09 pm
It was September 6, 2020, exactly one week before the grand final of the US Open was due to take place. Novak Djokovic, who was well on his way to winning the second event en suite in New York City, went into his round of 16 duel with Pablo Carreño Busta as the big favorite - and took himself out of the tournament. The Serb hit the linesman with a ball, his disqualification was the only logical consequence.
From this point it was not only clear that there would be a new Grand Slam champion at the US Open 2020, it was also clear that the remaining eight men would be under immense pressure. A pressure that was particularly evident in two matches. The semi-final between the "Djokovic conqueror" Pablo Carreño Busta and Alexander Zverev and the final between the German and Dominic Thiem.
Carreno Busta fails because of the chance
The big hole in the upper branch of the US Open Draw was temporarily filled by its conqueror, the Iberian Carreño Busta. After he was victorious in the quarter-finals against the youngster Denis Shapovalov, he faced Alexander Zverev, the super talent from Germany, in the semifinals. Zverev, whose qualities the entire tour has known about not just since his ATP finals victory in 2018, presented himself anything but in top form during the tournament, for Carreño Busta this semifinals should consequently be the very big chance at his first major-level final represent.
This did not seem to inhibit the Spaniard in particular at first, Carreño Busta started furiously, quickly took the lead with 2-0 sets. A few hours later, the Iberian sneaked out of the field as a loser. Sorry, broken. "It is incredibly difficult to say anything positive about this game after I missed such a chance," said the Spaniard, visibly touched, in the press conference that followed.
Between good and extraordinary
He had fallen victim to the great pressure, had lost the recklessness in the game that had driven him to his top performance in the previous match against the Canadian Shapovalov. Against Zverev there was nothing to be seen from the third set, Carreño Busta shivered and lost the courage to take risks. And a little later he also lost the match - and probably his last chance at the big shot at the Grand Slam level. The last chance to turn a good career into a history book career.
Because it is precisely these very big victories, the victories at the four tournaments, the Grand Slams, that make the difference in the careers of tennis players, whether they are remembered as a good or an exceptional player. An achievement that at least the second gentleman who felt the great pressure succeeded. The winner of the US Open, Dominic Thiem.
Cold start in the final
The way there could have been rockier, could not have been more difficult. Thiem, at the latest after his furious final success over Daniil Medvedev, the big favorite in the final against his friend Zverev, made a cold start in the final, which will probably not be so fast before and after him. The world number three saw no country against the aggressively and confidently acting German for a good two sentences - and after the break in the third round already looked like the sure loser.
It was probably this thought that the situation was now quite hopeless, which, as if out of nowhere, let the pressure drop from the Austrian. And sent the same to his German counterparty. It was by no means a nice final, it wasn't a high-class final either. But it was a final in which you could almost touch the pressure of the players, in which you saw in so many situations the strain the two heroes of the final had to contend with.
Thiem: "Maybe never recovered from it"
There would be Zverev's second serve in the tiebreak of the fifth set at Matchball Thiem, which grazes the network at just over 100 kilometers per hour. Or Thiem's forehand at the first Championsship Point, which he hammers into the net from a promising position. If this game had turned out in favor of the German in the short decision, "maybe I would never have recovered from it", Thiem should reveal after his return to Austria.
And it is so close together. Thiem has the Grand Slam title, the hard-earned, the hard-earned. He stood up to the pressure, even if it looked like the opposite for two sentences. He not only defeated Zverev, he also defeated himself and the expectations in order to be crowned Grand Slam champion a good 25 years after Thomas Muster. And with the pressure that has fallen off his shoulders as a result of this victory, he can again be seen as one of the big title contenders in Paris.