US Open: Thiem scripts stunning fightback to claim maiden grand slam title

From being two sets down, Austria's Dominic Thiem and world number three was in all sorts of trouble before hitting back from a break down to take the third

Austria's Dominic Thiem claimed his first Grand Slam title with a jaw-dropping comeback to edge past Germany's Alexander Zverev 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(6) in Sunday's US Open final here.

From being two sets down, the 27-year-old world number three was in all sorts of trouble before hitting back from a break down to take the third.

In a nerve-wracking fourth set, Zverev faltered on serve at 3-4 allowing Thiem to take the contest to a decider.

Thiem then trailed 5-3 in the decider but rode on baseline winners to take it into a tiebreak. He squandered two match points from 6-4 but Zverev fired wide a third opportunity after four hours and two minutes.
 

This was the first US Open final to be decided by a fifth-set tie-break. Thiem is the first player to rally from two sets down in a US Open final since Pancho Gonzales did it against Ted Schroeder in 1949 at an event then known as the US Championships.

He also became the first Grand Slam champion born in the 1990s.

With this win, Thiem claimed his maiden Grand Slam trophy after three previous defeats in the finals of tennis majors. Thiem joined Thomas Muster (1995 Roland Garros) as the only Austrian man to win a major championship.

US Open 2020: Dominic Thiem vs Alexander Zverev final highlights



WATCH: The Thiem moment of joy



WATCH: Here's what the two finalists said after the final match