Dominic Thiem rallied from one set down to beat Roger Federer 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 after saving two match points in the tie-break of the second set. Thiem saved four break points before breaking Federer in the seventh game of the third set.
Federer capitalized on his only break point chance of the first set in the fourth game as Thiem was serving at 1-2. In the seventh game Thiem rallied from 0-30 on Federer’s serve to earn a break point. Federer saved the break point to extend his lead to 5-2 before holding his service game to clinch the first set 6-3.
Thiem converted his first break point chance in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. The Austrian player, semifinalist at the Roland Garros, got the double break in the fourth game to open up a 4-0 lead.
Federer got one break back in the seventh game to rally from 0-5 down to 2-5. Federer got the double break in the ninth game for 4-5 as Thiem made a pair of double faults and two unforced errors.
In the 10th game Thiem recovered from 0-40 to 30-40 but Federer held his service game with a service winner to draw level to 5-5. The second set came down to the tie-break.
Federer earned a match point at 6-5 in the tie-break but missed a volley. Thiem saved a second match point at 7-6 with a passing shot winner. Thiem earned a set point as Federer missed a drop shot with an overhead winner.
The match was interrupted immediately due to rain after the end of the second set. After the match resumed, Federer faced a break point in the first game but held his serve. Thiem had to save two break points in the second game. Thiem broke serve to 30 in the seventh game with a passing shot to take a 4-3 lead before another shower forced organizers to stop the match briefly after the seventh game. The young Austrian star held his next two service games to wrap up the match.
Federer and Thiem met for the third time this season. Thiem now leads 2-1 in his three head-to-head matches against Federer. Last January Federer beat Thiem in the semifinal in Brisbane. Thiem beat Federer 7-6 6-4 in their previous head-to-head in the third round at the Rome Masters 1000 Tournament.
Thiem has qualified for his first final on grass. The current world number 7 player will play in his first final as top-10 player.He will face the winner of the second semifinal between Juan Martin Del Potro and Phillip Kohlschreiber.
Thiem has an impressive win-loss record of 44-11 this year. He will be bidding to win his fourth title this season after Buenos Aires, Acapulco and Nice. He lost the Roland Garros semifinal against Novak Djokovic.
