US Open 2020: Dominic Thiem becomes first man to overturn two set deficit in 71 years at American Grand Slam, and more stats

At a US Open unlike any other, Dominic Thiem constructed a comeback the likes of which hadn’t been seen in 71 years. After dropping the opening two sets against Alexander Zverev on Sunday at a nearly empty Arthur Ashe Stadium — fans were banned because of the coronavirus pandemic — Thiem slowly but surely turned things around for a 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory across more than four hours to earn his first major championship. The 27-year-old from Austria is the first man to win the American Grand Slam tournament after trailing 2-0 in sets in the final since Pancho Gonzales did it against Ted Schroeder in 1949 at an event then known as the US Championships. Not only that, but in a fitting finish to an unprecedented two weeks, this match was decided by a fifth-set tiebreaker, something that had never happened in the final. That and more stats from Thiem’s marathon win over Zverev: - Dominic Thiem is the first player since 1949 to win the US Open men’s singles title having dropped the first two sets. The last was Pancho Gonzales. - Thiem is the fifth in Open Era to come from two sets down to win a Grand Slam final. Bjorn Borg (1974), Ivan Lendl (1984), Andre Agassi (1999) and Gaston Gaudio (2004) have done it earlier and all at Roland Garros - Thiem is the second Austrian to win a Grand Slam. The first was Thomas Muster at 1995 Roland Garros. - Thiem is the first player born in the 90’s to win a Grand Slam. He had come close thrice but lost to Rafael Nadal (twice) and Novak Djokovic. - The last time a player younger than 30-years-old won a men’s singles Grand Slam title was Andy Murray at the 2016 Wimbledon - He is the first maiden Grand Slam winner since 2014 when Marin Cilic won the US Open. - Thiem is now 3-11 when losing the first two sets in his career. The three times he’s gone on to win have been against Ernests Gulbis at 2014 US Open, Denis Kudla at 2018 Australian Open and today. - Alexander Zverev had never lost after winning the first two sets in his career. That changed today. He’s only been pushed to a fifth set when taking a two sets to love lead five times now. - This was the fourth five-setter in men’s singles final at the US Open in this century. Earlier: Juan Martin Del Potro vs Roger Federer (2009), Andy Murray vs Novak Djokovic (2012), Nadal vs Daniil Medvedev (2019) - This is the first time in men’s tennis history that four straight major finals have gone to a fifth set (2019 Wimbledon, 2019 US Open, 2020 Australian Open and 2020 US Open) - Thiem’s head-to-head against Zverev has now improved to 8-2. He’s won their last four meetings. - At 27, Thiem is the youngest man to win a Grand Slam title since Del Potro in 2009 - Thiem is the 42nd consecutive men’s singles Grand Slam winner from Europe. The last non-European player to win a Slam was Del Potro in 2009 - Thiem joins Goran Ivanisevic and Andre Agassi in losing their first three Grand Slam finals before winning their first. He avoids joining the company of Andy Murray and Ivan Lendl. (with inputs by AP)