Something will have to give when Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev collide in the semis of the Nitto ATP Finals on Saturday night. Thiem arguably owns the two most impressive victories this week, having taken down both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic–who have won the year-end championship a combined 11 times. Zverev, however, is the defending champion and has earned each of his wins this week in straight sets.
Both rising stars look worthy of reaching the final if not capturing the title. Only one, of course, can keep those hopes alive on Saturday.
This marks their eighth career meeting, with Thiem leading the head-to-head series 5-2. That statistic hardly means anything, as only two of their encounters have come on hard courts (Thiem leads 4-1 on clay) and they have not faced each other since the 2018 French Open.
Thiem frequently failing to advance deep in hard-court tournaments is part of the reason for the relative lack of recent head-to-head history. It is safe to say, however, that those woes are things of the past. Three of the 26-year-old Austrian’s five titles this season have come on hard courts, all three coming at no less than the 500-point level (Vienna, Beijing, and the Indian Wells Masters). He had previously captured two hard-court titles in his entire career. Armed with sudden confidence on this surface, Thiem upset both Federer and Djokovic inside the O2 Arena before losing to Matteo Berrettini in a mostly meaningless match.
“He’s been playing some unbelievable tennis, maybe the best tennis that we have ever seen from him,” Zverev commented. “Beating Roger and Novak on this court is very special. Doing it back to back is very, very difficult. It’s going to be a very difficult match. I’m looking forward to it. Honestly, I’m just happy to be in the semis.”
There was no guarantee for Zverev’s place on Saturday after he followed up an opening win over Rafael Nadal with a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Needing to defeat Daniil Medvedev on Friday night in order to advance and knock out Nadal, the seventh-ranked German came up big and prevailed 6-4, 7-6(4).
This is a tough one to call, as the surface favors Zverev and he has momentum after surviving on Friday. Thiem’s peak–which was especially on display against Djokovic–has been superior to that of anyone else in the field this week. The world No. 5 should be able to flip the mental switch back on now that pressure has returned, and if he does he may have the edge in what should be an entertaining affair.
Pick: Thiem in 3
[polldaddy poll=10459406]
WWW?
Thiem in three .Zverev will play great, but make too many errors .
Agreed, Thiem in two or three sets.
I really hope thiem in 3. I want a thiem federer final.
Theim in 2
Has Thiem still got a cold? Hope he has been drinking his Lemsip if so because I want him to win…
Could be close. Zverev still is not quite consistent enough to pick but he might find his best tennis to make the final.
Thiem appears a bit tired/sluggish.
Can’t see anything visibly wrong with Thiem, amy. I didn’t know he had a cold.
Apparently he had one when playing Berrettini…
LOL, well I could see that he turned down his fire power and succumbed to darling Matteo’s power.
I quite love Matteo Berrettini. He’s so well spoken, subtle sense of humor, brilliant smile. But he one of the ones we don’t know about winning a GS. It would be great to have an Italian GS winner! And a French one. These are great tennis loving countries. Australia is due another GS winner and Canada, by all means! Lots of great Russians at the moment. Okay so I didn’t name one person specifically to win a GS in 2020 out of next gen. Okay Dominic Thiem seems close to it, in fact he’d have one if it wasn’t for Rafa lol. As much as some of you don’t like Tsitsipas, he’s got the talent. Might be a little arrogant for some of your tastes but I woke up in time for his winner’s speech after beating Roger and he was humble, restating his admiration for the big three – he sounded fine. He can be a cocky one though – I can’t help but like him. My nex gen favorite is Alex De Minaur. He keeps his cap on and his head focused but when he does speak up and smile, he’s quite likeable. Okay, Medvedev is a possible #1 and GS winner.
Very hopeful about Andy Murray’s comeback and forever a Delpo fan.
still does
I just saw a match stat that Zverev is serving at 100% first serves is this true!!?? I can’t watch…
Well I don’t know about 100% but he has been is spot serving well. Zverev is also serving well but I have not been paying close attention – I’m having trouble staying awake, amy.
Get some sleep rc! I thought it was something like 3 your time?! Aren’t you 6 hours behind? Too much tennis?
Amy,
I’m on London time no matter what I do right now. European times are easy for me to adjust to – although I become anti-social in my own time zone. But the Asian Swing and AO are beyond difficult – it’s just the wrong time to be awake – my body and mind can’t take it.
Oh good Dom wins first set!
Come on Dom!😀
Prefer Sissy ,, but i like DT too , and i think he deserves the title more, having beaten both Novak and Roger, but thats just me lol , hope your all well xx ….
Alison 😀
Yes, but Sissy is not well-liked here by some important posters. I am in agreement with you, I’d love Tsitsipas winning tomorrow but Thiem would be great too, if he’s not too under the weather with the cold or flu virus.
‘Important posters dont like Sissy’. LOL. Not sure what you mean . The name or the player?
I prefer to call him Sisipa , and like him even he beat Federer today.
Great final tomorrow .
No, I think it’s because he’s getting big headed these days.
I do like him for his playing style and find him quite charismatic; just hope that he learns to be humble to be more likeable (at least to me).
Lucky, and Elizabeth, I agree re: Tsitsipas. I really like his game and think he had a very intriguing and special personality. But lately I was also disappointed. He did and said quite a few things which I didn’t like at all. Especially his diatribe at the USO against everything French was a bit alienating to say the least. But he has indeed behaved like that in the past, but the focus wasn’t on then. I’m not sure if he’s really getting too full of himself or if these character traits have always been there and we simply didn’t notice them so far because the amount of publicity wasn’t fully there, yet. We will see how he will develop under intense scrutiny. I really regretted that so far he has never apologized in his pressers after questionable behavior – unlike Medvedev who has handled these situations in a much more mature way IMO. But Tsitsipas doesn’t have a cookie cutter personality, and that’s a good thing IMO.
I agree , he seemed originally a nice guy who changed once he got a bit of success. Arrogance set in .And maybe he’s feeding a bit off his fellow ‘Greek’ , Kyrgios.
Good call…Thiem played well.
Thiem vs Tsitsipas, both SHBH, Stan vs Fed, younger v versions?