A vintage Dominic Thiem was seen saving 5 match points to outlast Laslo Djere 6-7(3), 7-5, 7-6(8) at the Austrian Open in Kitzbühel as he reached his first tour-level final since the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals.
The world. No. 3 gave the home crowd ample to watch as he drilled fearless backhand winners while holding his nerves throughout the thrilling 3-hour, 30-min encounter. Unbroken on serve, the Austrian saved all 12 break points to get through his third match in a row after losing the opening frame. In front of an electric home crowd that spectated 3.5 hours of epic tennis, he would fend off three match points on serve at 5-6 in the 3rd set and another two in the tie-break of the decider.
“I don’t know if I can still produce some good words,” Thiem said in disbelief post match. “It was probably the longest best of three match I’ve ever played in my life, including when I was a kid. I think even then I didn’t play that long for a best of three match.
“It was a very tough and intense match. So close every set, every single game. I knew it straight from the beginning that it would be so close, first three or four games were 20, 25 minutes. It was just an incredible atmosphere again.”
The 29-year old lost nine of his first 10 matches in 2023 and entered the Generali Open as ATP #116. Despite 6-5 during the clay season, he didn’t manage to register a win during the European grass swing that included a valiant 5-set tie-break loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the R1 of Wimbledon.
Because of teared right wrist that kept him on the sidelines from June 2021 to March 2022, the Austrian missed some big tournaments. He is now bidding to win his second title in Kitzbühel after clinching his maiden home trophy of the tour in 2019.
“It’s very special today, my first final on the tour since my wrist injury. I couldn’t be happier that it’s here in Austria at home,” Thiem said.
With some great 3-sets win at the Generali Open, the 29-year old has improved his ATP rank to #89 and could get himself behind the #80 if he comes over the Argentine Sebastian Baez in the final on Saturday.