09/13/2020 - 15:42
Clarín.com
sports
Dominic Thiem or Alexander Zverev?
Who will be the strangest and most unpredictable US Open champion and on the world's largest tennis court, empty by the coronavirus?
Who will win their first Grand Slam this Sunday?
The answer will begin to be known from the 17 of Argentina (televisa ESPN).
The Austrian Thiem, second favorite of the tournament after the disqualified Novak Djokovic, emerges with a little more advantage, but the German Zverev has successfully defied logic and precedents to become the youngest finalist of a 'big' at the age of 23 since Djokovic in 2010.
If Zverev was able to overcome two sets against
Pablo Carreño
for the first time on Friday
, Thiem defeated Russian Daniil Medvedev, third-seeded and finalist of the 2019 US Open, much more easily than expected in three sets.
For the 27-year-old Austrian, it is the fourth final of his career and the second in a row after falling at the Australian Open against Djokovic earlier this year.
He previously lost to Rafael Nadal in two Roland Garros finals in 2018 and 2019.
No matter who wins this Sunday, the 2020 US Open will have the first Grand Slam winner born in the 1990s.
Dominic Thiem is on the rise in New York Photo Reuters
It has required an injury (Roger Federer had a knee operation), a pandemic (Nadal preferred to stay in Europe) and a disqualification difficult to imagine (Djokovic accidentally hit a linesman with the round of 16 match stopped) to For a player other than the
'Big Three' to
lift a Grand Slam tournament, since the Swiss Stan Wawrinka did it at the 2016 US Open.
But the new generation of tennis players has knocked on the door at Flushing Meadows and neither Thiem nor Zverev want to miss this opportunity.
"It is the biggest goal and also the biggest dream of my tennis career
,
"
stressed the Austrian.
The precision and effectiveness of his game, as well as the rhythm and rival management, impressed during the first five rounds.
Alexander Zverev is in tune as he turns an incredible game AFP Photo
Against Zverev he also has in favor his record of seven wins by two for the German, including a recent victory in four sets in the semifinal of the Australian Open.
The German has been much less solid than Thiem in his journey to the final, not always being able to take advantage of a serve capable of giving him 24 points with '
aces
' against Carreño.
Zverev, seventh in the ATP, was the first of the new generation to challenge the three giants, winning the Masters 1000 against Federer (Canada 2017) and Djokovic (Rome 2018) and reaching number three in the ranking in 2017.
In Flushing Meadows he has shown for the first time a mental strength at the highest level with which he has been able to settle his great account pending to reach a Grand Slam final.
HS
