Since the dawn of Open tennis in 1968, a combined total of 51 men and women have known the singular feeling of standing alone at the end of the US Open fortnight. Fifty years, 51 champions.
Ask any of those 51 and they’ll tell you—it takes so much more than talent to win here. You need the whole package: intelligence, desire, stamina, courage. You need to own every shot in the book, and when that’s not enough, you need to be ready to write a new chapter or two. Indeed, the courts of the US Open are tennis’ ultimate proving grounds. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.
Twelve former champions are in the field at the 2019 US Open, which figures to make adding to the total of 51 that much more difficult. But there are a number of players with the talent and tenacity to make the difficult disappear; a group which just may have the stuff to claim tennis’ toughest title. As we look forward to the 2019 US Open, USOpen.org takes a closer look at some of those players, asking the question: “Who’s 52?”
In this installment: Dominic Thiem.
It was 2:05 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. Dominic Thiem had just finished three days at the US Open he would never forget. On Monday, he’d turned 25. The next night, Thiem entered Arthur Ashe Stadium to play the first US Open quarterfinal of his career—against defending US Open champion Rafael Nadal.
Showing no signs of fear, Thiem took just 24 minutes to win the opening set, 6-0, dropping just seven points. Invariably, Nadal countered. Late evening turned to early morning, and all grew electric in exemplary post-midnight US Open fashion—great shots from both sides, a thoroughly engaged crowd. All told, Thiem would strike 74 winners. Just 11 minutes short of five hours, Nadal had won a classic, 0-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7, 7-6.
“Of course, now I'm devastated a little bit,” said Thiem just after. “But in a few days, I will look back and will remember how great it was to play in front of a packed Arthur Ashe, this great match.”
For the second year in a row, the Austrian had thrown his heart and soul into a US Open battle that had arguably been the best match of the tournament. In 2017, versus 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, Thiem had held two match points, only to lose, 1-6, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6, 6-4.
But even in defeat, over the course of 10 rough-and-tumble sets, Thiem had left his mark on the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and proved himself a significant US Open contender. This is not surprising. Throughout his entire career, Thiem’s ambition has been vivid, his focus relentless, his work ethic first-rate, his skills instantly apparent—the latter most clear in the form of lacerating ground strokes that find all corners of the court and frequently punish opponents. The Thiem one-handed backhand is a fan favorite. But he will assert that his bigger shot is his forehand.
Regardless, the cumulative weight of the two is exceptionally concussive, which plays well on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows. Indeed, Thiem has compiled a very respectable 15-5 career mark at the US Open, bested only by his 24-6 record at Roland Garros.
Certainly, Thiem’s best results have come on clay—including runs to the final at Roland Garros in each of the last two years—but just as certainly, he took a major step forward on the hard stuff earlier this year. Prior to 2019, Thiem’s tally of 11 ATP Tour singles titles had only included one outdoor hard-court victory, a run in Acapulco in 2016, where he did not face a Top-20 player.
But this March, at the hard-court ATP Masters event in Indian Wells, Thiem came alive. In the semis, he squeaked past 14th-ranked Milos Raonic, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4. And the final was even more challenging. Up against the one and only Roger Federer, Thiem lost the first set, 6-3, but rallied strongly to take the next two, 6-3 and 7-5.
Now, ranked No. 4 in the world and having taken the title at the event often informally considered tennis’ fifth Slam, Thiem surely is more hopeful than ever that New York could well be the scene for his major breakthrough to glory.
To read more from this series, visit our "Who's 52?" landing page.