French Open: Oui! Dominic Thiem in Roland Garros for the first time in a Grand Slam final

Dominic Thiem is the second Austrian in the final of a Grand Slam tournament: The seventh seeded Thiem defeated the Italian Marco Cecchinato in three sets in the semi-final of the French Open and will face either Rafael Nadall or Juan Martin del Potro on Sunday.

By Jens Huiber from Paris

First victory on court Philippe Chatrier, first victory against Kei Nishikori – and now the first final of a Grand Slam tournament: Dominic Thiem strings one premiere after another in Roland Garros 2018. In the semi-final against Marco Cecchinato, Thiem lived up to his role as favourite, winning 7:5, 7:6 (10) and 6:1 after a playing time of 2:17 hours.

Until the eighth game, the match went according to the Lower Austrian’s wishes: Thiem took off Cecchinato’s first service game, served three times without problems. Then, however, it was suddenly 0:40, Thiem equalled the debut, pocketed a simple backhand volley in the net and a baseline ball in the out. 4:4.

Dominic Thiem’s box had only one access, mother Karin joined the crew and the coaches Günter Bresnik, Galo Blanco and Physio Alex Stoiber. But from Palermo, the hometown of Cecchinato, a whole bus of supporters seemed to have arrived – southern temperament that celebrated Cecchinato’s compensation in due form.

Nevertheless, the first set went to Thiem 7:5 after 46 minutes.

A first for the 24-year-old: In 2016, as last year, Thiem lost in the semi-final against Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in three sets. Cecchinato, on the other hand, didn’t show any nervousness during his biggest appearance on the tennis stage so far, followed the rallies and was always convincing with stop variations.

Thiem missed two break balls in the fifth game of the second set, Cecchinato could not win a single one. And still saved himself in a tiebreak. In the round before the Italian had won a short decision against Novak Djokovic with 13:11.

There was almost as much drama this time – plus a standing ovation for Thiem after the 3-2 point, which the Austrian won with an incredible forehand cross. Just as incredible was the chance Thiem missed at 6-4: Another backhand volley, but that would have meant the set win. Thiem could not take another chance at 8:7, but equalized with stop and mini-break to 10:10. After 110 minutes a curtain ball sailed Cecchinatos out – Dominic Thiem fell to his knees.

The resistance of the Italian was remarkable up to this point, but now only Thiem was at the trigger. The Lichtenwörther pulled away in the third act after not even 20 played minutes on 5:0, served with small problems after 2:17 hours to the biggest success of his career.

“The key was the second movement,” Thiem explained in an interview with Cedric Pioline on the court. The forgiven backhand volley would not have left him with a particularly good feeling that things could have gotten tight. He will train well on Saturday – and then go into the final with full power.

This gives Dominic Thiem on Sunday the chance to become the second Austrian after Thomas Muster to win one of the four biggest tournaments in tennis in 1995. In any case, there is a big task ahead of them: either the ten-time champion Rafael Nadal, against whom Thiem has a balanced record of 1:1 victories this year. Or Juan Martin del Potro. Thiem has never won against the Argentinean, most recently losing at the US Open after leading 2-0.

But the French Open seems to be predestined for another premiere for Austria’s number one.