Dominic Thiem battled past Novak Djokovic 6-2 3-6 7-5 5-7 7-5 to reach his second consecutive Roland Garros final.
The Austrian overcame wind, rain delays and the world number one Novak Djokovic to reach his second consecutive Roland Garros final.
As they entered the second day at a set all and a 3-1 lead to Thiem, the Austrian had to battle and claw his way to yet another final against Rafael Nadal.
Meanwhile for Novak Djokovic, his quest for more history ends in heart-breaking fashion as he is still yet to reach the final since 2016.
After the resumption, it was Djokovic who returned the better player as he liked the less windier conditions dictating play from his return game.
After failing to break in his first return game, the Serbian wouldn’t waste his second opportunity as he got the break back that he conceded yesterday.
As for the Austrian his level was as good as yesterday but struggled with his shot selection which meant that he was conceding a lot of points on serve.
However there is a reason why Thiem had reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros for four years in a row and he used his kick serve to prevent the surge from Djokovic.
The fourth seed also needed a stroke of luck as two shanked smashes and a net cord winner prevented a two set to one deficit.
Luck is earned though and last year’s finalist finally decided to press the Serb on serve and make him pay for his serve and volleying tactics.
Even though he seemed passive on some of the set points, Thiem trusted his backhand and used it to good effect to convert his fourth set point as he took the third set 7-5.
The fourth set saw Djokovic more switched on tactically as he started to be more aggressive and force the world number four backwards.
Both men shared breaks at the start of the set as Djokovic drew first blood before a lucky net cord lob winner sealed the break back for the Austrian.
Check out this ridiculous net cord lob from @ThiemDomi 😅 #RG19 pic.twitter.com/8NPpp4ubAx
— Eurosport (@eurosport) June 8, 2019
A terrible game from Thiem saw a break to love for the world number one as he finally broke returning against the wind in a huge momentum shift.
Eventually though, the Serb had to serve against the wind and struggled to get a grip of his ball toss as he gave away the break in quick fashion.
Some weird tactical returning cost Thiem towards the end of the set as he missed the opportunity to break for the match and as a consequence was made to pay for it.
A double fault saw Djokovic get the crucial break in the 11th game and seal the set 7-5 to force a fifth set in this high-quality affair.
Both men started the deciding set by saving break points as there were candidates for shot of the tournament with both players raising the level.
(🎥@Eurosport_RU ) pic.twitter.com/TGNqoT3agi
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) June 8, 2019
However it was Thiem who struck the first blow as the Serb once again struggled to serve against the wind and land the fatal blow.
The Austrian was playing with freedom and confidence as he moved Djokovic around the court with hard-hitting shots as he established a 4-1 lead.
After a 20 minute rain delay, the world number one prevented a double break deficit and broke back as the drama continued.
There were another couple of breaks as Djokovic got nervy and Thiem was too passive on his two match points as he couldn’t close the match out.
In the end though it was the Austrian, who struck a deadly forehand to seal victory in a four hour and two day battle as he reached his second consecutive final.
It wasn’t to be for Djokovic, who’s 26 match winning streak at grand slams comes to an end in an epic loss to a mentally stronger Thiem.
In a bizarre match, Thiem gets the win and next up for him is Rafael Nadal in less than 24 hours time on Sunday afternoon.
