Dominic Thiem edged Milos Raonic 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 after 2 hours and 31 minutes in the semifinal of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells to set up a final against Roger Federer, who advanced without playing after Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal due to a right knee injury.
Thiem dropped just 24 points in his service games and saved the only break point in the fifth game of the third set. He hit 25 winners to just 9 unforeced errors. Raonic produced 58 winners to 35 unforced errors.
The first set went on serve with no break points and came down to the tie-break. Thiem got two mini-breaks and raced out to a 5-1 lead with a backhand winner down the line. He sealed the tie-break 7-3 with a service winner. Thiem fired 10 winners and won 93% of his first serve points in the opening set.
Thiem earned the first break point of the match with a return winner in the fourth game of the second set at 2-1 30-40 but Raonic saved it with an ace before holding his service game to draw level to 2-2.
Thiem rallied from 15-30 down to hold his serve at deuce in a hard-fought ninth game for 5-4. After three easy holds of serve the second set was also decided by a tie-break. Both players went on serve until the eighth point when Raonic got the crucial 5-3 edge. The Canadian player won the next two points to seal the second set 7-3 with a service winner.
The third set went on serve in the first four games before Thiem finally got the first break of the match at deuce to take a 3-2 lead. The Austrian player consolidated the break by holding his serve at 15 for 4-2. Thiem won 77 % of his service points and saved the only break point he faced, when he served for the match at 5-4 in the decisive set.
Thiem served out on his second match point with a backhand volley winner into the open court in the 10th game after 2 hours and 31 minutes.
“He was pushing me back. He was aggressive from the first ball. There were not many times that I got to be on the offensive on the return games. When I did, I was not efficient about taking advantage of it. It’s always something something special to play against Roger and to compete in Masters 1000. It’s only my third one. I have pretty bad stats in the finals, so it’s going to be very tough, but at the same time I will give everything to hopefully win my first title”, said Thiem.
Thiem clinched the first win in his third head-to-head match against Raonic, who had beaten his Austrian rival twice in Cincinnati and in the Nitto ATP Finals in London in 2016.
Thiem has recently brought former world number 9 player and two-time Olympic champion Nicolas Massu into his team. Thiem and Massu met for the first time during the Davis Cup match between Austria and Chile. Massu has started working with Thiem in Indian Wells.
The Austrian player has reached a final at Masters 1000 level for the third consecutive year and his first title match on hard court. In his previous two Masters 1000 finals he finished runner-up in Madrid on clay in 2017 and 2018. He will be bidding to win his first title at Indian Wells against five-time Indian Wells champion Roger Federer.
Federer and Thiem are tied 2-2 in their four head-to-head matches. Federer won his two hard-court maches in Brisbane 2016 and at the ATP Finals in London in 2018, while Thiem beat the Swiss player on clay in Rome and grass in Stuttgart in 2016.
