Future is now: Thiem upsets Nadal, Fritz into ATP final at 18 years old

Dominic Thiem’s career has already been a stellar one, highlighted by a trio of ATP titles last season. The 22-year-old Austrian is one win away from a fourth triumph after scoring one of his most impressive wins on Saturday at the Argentina Open. Thiem saved one match point before upsetting Rafael Nadal 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4) in two hours and 50 minutes.

The world No. 19 battled back from a break down in the first before it was Nadal’s turn to recover from a break deficit in the third. Nadal maintained momentum through to the 10th game of the decider, which featured five deuces. Thiem fought off the one match point with a forehand winner and finally managed to hold. He stormed ahead 6-1 in the ‘breaker and capitalized on his fourth opportunity at 6-4 to clinch victory.

Thiem after win
“6/4 4/6 7/6 against Rafael Nadal,” Thiem wrote on Facebook. “Bamos defeated Vamos! I can not believe it! It were intense 3 hours on the court today, I fought off a match-point and managed to gain a win over one of the best clay courters. To beat such a player is insane, I will never forget that moment in my life.”

Highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYrgbQYDozU

A few hours later at the Memphis Open, 18-year-old American Taylor Fritz continued his amazing run by overcoming Ricardas Berankis 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 the semifinals. Fritz is the youngest American man in an ATP final since Michael Chang lifted a trophy in Wembley at 17 years old in 1989.

Fritz feature:

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19 Comments on Future is now: Thiem upsets Nadal, Fritz into ATP final at 18 years old

  1. ALLEZ!! That was epic. That last game was sick. Epic win and awesome reaction. Even more impressive is that he is in the dubs semis with Harrison.

  2. 9th ace and he holds. Well done. Make Kei serve for the match. Impressive competitor, I think. Fits in well. Hooray for Taylor Fritz in his first ATP final!

    Congrats to Kei!

  3. GSM Kei. 4 and 4. Solid match. Fritz fought well but kei was too good in the end. Now on to next weeks tournaments. Delray will be much higher quality draw than here and rio has great draw with Rafa Ferrer and Isner. Marseille is an ATP 250 but it’s got a better draw to be honest with stanimal, Berdych, Monfils, Paire, Gasquet, and others among the seeds. Also Kyrgios plays Pospisil first round. That should be a good one.

  4. Rio seeds: Rafa, Ferrer, Tsonga, Isner, Thiem, Sock, Fognini, and Bellucci
    Marseille seeds: Stan, Berdych, Gasquet, Cilic, Simon, Goffin, Monfils, and Paire
    Delray Beach seeds: Anderson, Tomic, Dr. Ivo, Dimitrov, Chardy, Johnson, Donald Young, and Mannarino
    Those are some pretty strong fields. Kyrgios and Zverev make some noise in Marseille and in Rio Thiem and Sock are ones to watch. Also in delray, Fritz is obviously one of the unseeded players who could make a deep run.

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