THIEM BEATS DJOKOVIC IN FIVE
Austrian into second straight RG final after five-set defeat of world No.1.
Dominic Thiem has ended Novak Djokovic’s 26-match Grand Slam winning streak with a five-set win in the Roland-Garros semi-finals.
In a match played over two days due to inclement weather, Thiem prevailed 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 in four hours and 13 minutes.
Thiem led 4-1 in the final set and held two match points at 40-15 when serving for the match at 5-3, yet sprayed four unforced errors to let the world No.1 back into the match.
Yet he re-focused, and forced a forehand error from Djokovic in the 12th game to earn a third match point – which he converted with a forehand winner of his own.
Thiem is the first Austrian player to reach multiple Grand Slam finals. Thomas Muster, the only other Austrian player, man or woman, to have reached a Grand Slam final, won the title here in 1995.