Dominic Thiem recovered from squandering five match points to beat Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-7 (10/12), 7-6 (7/5) and reach the title match at the ATP Finals in London on Saturday.
The US Open champion, who ended the top seed’s hopes of equalling Roger Federer’s record of six titles at the event, will play either Rafael Nadal or Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final.
Djokovic failed to break Thiem throughout the encounter despite winning three break points during the game. The Austrian on the other hand converted one out of the two break points on offer in an encounter that remained tight throughout.
Thiem won 86 service points compared to Djokovic’s tally of 81 and it proved to be the difference in the end.
After winning the first set, Thiem had the chance to finish the match in straight sets but missed out on several opportunities to seal his victory allowing Djokovic to battle his way through and claim the second set in the tiebreak, but the Austrian stuck to his guns in the decider, remaining strong on his serve to take the game to another tiebreak.
This time he held his nerve to claim the win and move into the title match.