Alexander Zverev vs. Dominic Thiem was supposed to be the main event at the French Open on Tuesday. It turned out to be the undercard–and with room to spare.
Following Thiem’s straight-set beatdown of Zverev, Marco Cecchinato stunned Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-7(4), 1-6, 7-6(11) in three hours and 24 minutes. Cecchinato, who had never won a single match at a Grand Slam prior to this fortnight, recovered from deficits of 3-0 and 5-2 in the fourth set before saving three set points in a wild tiebreaker. The 72nd-ranked Italian had previously fought off three set points at 5-6 in the second set.
A dramatic, high-quality fourth-set ‘breaker finally ended when Cecchinato converted his fourth match point with a backhand return winner.
“It was amazing tennis today,” the 25-year-old assessed. “After the (final) return, when I saw (it was) on the line, it was the best moment of my life.”
“He played amazing and credit to him,” Djokovic said of Cecchinato. “Congrats for a great performance. He came out very well. I struggled from the beginning. Unfortunately, it took me time to get well and (I) struggled with a little injury, at the beginning. And after, when I warmed up, it was better.
“(It was) just a pity that I couldn’t capitalize on the chances in the 4-1 in the fourth set and some break points, but he came back and credit to him…. He didn’t seem to be [fazed by] the big stadium or big match. He just held his nerves amazingly well in the important moments.”
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As for Thiem vs. Zverev, it never came close to living up to the hype. The 21-year-old German was coming off three straight five-setters and did not have much left in the tank, primarily undone by a hamstring injury. Thiem took advantage to dominate 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 and book a spot in his third consecutive French Open semifinal.
“I actually felt good today,” Zverev commented. “Waking up in the morning, I actually felt, ‘Okay, I can play five sets again.’ Even in the warmup and even the first few games, it was the best I felt the ball all week. I thought it was going to be a tough, physical match, but unfortunately my body didn’t hold up.
“But I still wanted to finish the match and kind of give the credit to Dominic. He deserves to be in the semifinals.”
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