Novak Djokovic’s quest to win four consecutive Grand Slam titles came to a halt Saturday at the French Open thanks to Dominic Thiem, who beat the world No. 1 in a match that was delayed from Friday for weather. Thiem won 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 5-7, 7-5.
Although just one of Djokovic’s 15 Grand Slam wins was at Roland Garros in Paris (2016), he entered the clay-court tournament having won the last three Grand Slams: The Australian Open in January, the U.S. Open in September and Wimbledon last summer. In Grand Slams, he was on a 26-match win streak until he crossed Thiem.
In all, the match lasted four hours and 13 minutes, and Thiem’s victory sets him up for a rematch in the finals against the king of clay, Rafael Nadal, who beat Thiem in last year’s French Open final.
Thiem is the first Austrian player to reach multiple Grand Slam finals, according to RolandGarros.com, but he’s got quite a challenge in front of him.
Nadal is appearing in his 12th French Open final and has never lost in the final. He beat Roger Federer on Friday in the other semifinal match, which was played before the start of Djokovic and Thiem’s.
“It was an amazing match. The first five-set match of my life at Roland-Garros,” Thiem said on court after the victory.
“I was in the semi-finals with perhaps three of the greatest of all time, so it was unbelievable to beat one of them.
“It’s never easy to go on and off [the court due to rain], but we’re used to it in tennis.
“I’m very happy.
“All the time in the finals it’s against Rafa. It was an amazing experience last year. He’s the favourite of course, but I’m really looking forward to letting everything out on the court again. Let’s see.”
The French Open men’s final is Sunday at 9 a.m. ET.
