Austria's Dominic Thiem is through to the final of the men's singles in the Australian Open after a three sets to one win over Alexander Zverev this morning.
The fifth seed lost the first set but bounced back to win the next three as he secured his place in his first Australian Open decider with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 win.
The 26-year-old will play defending champion Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final as he bids for a first Grand Slam title.
Welcome to your first #AusOpen final, @ThiemDomi 👊 #AO2020 pic.twitter.com/3y3EfhLA5d
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 31, 2020
He won this closely fought semi-final the hard way.
Seventh seed Zverev took the first set relatively comfortably 6-3, but the next two sets were much closer.
Thiem took the second 6-4, and the next two sets were decided on a tie break.
Thiem won both 7-6 - after a curious stoppage during the third set after a light failure, he won the tie break 7-3 and took the fourth set tie-breaker 7-4 to claim his place in the final.
Speaking on court after the match, the Austrian said that the challenge of Djokovic in the final will be a formidable one.
"It's unbelievable," Thiem said.
"I was twice in a row in the worlds finals, twice I was facing Rafa who won this tournament and now I am facing Novak here,"
"He is the king of Australia, he's won seven titles here, more than any other man so I'm always facing the kings of the grand slam in the final.
"I try my best and I try everything to win and if I walk off the court as a loser in two days I still have to be patient, I still have to trust the process but I'm looking forward a lot. I'll try to regenerate perfectly now and give everything I have one more time."
The women's singles final between 14th seed Sofia Kenin and Spaniard Garbine Muguruza takes place tomorrow [Saturday] morning Irish time, with the men's final on Sunday.
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