Paris: Austria's Dominic Thiem has earned a place in his maiden grand slam final at the French Open with a 7-5 7-6 (12-10) 6-1 victory over Italy's Marco Cecchinato.
Seventh seed Thiem, 24, resisted fightbacks from the world No.72 in the opening two sets of their semi-final on Friday. He saved three set points in the second before winning an epic tiebreak, something which Cecchinato has become famous for this year at Roland Garros.
Austria's Dominic Thiem celebrates as he defeats Italy's Marco Cecchinato during their semifinal match of the French Open.
Photo: AP
"The big key was the second set, it was a close tiebreak and if I lost it, I didn't want that because it would be a tough match," said Thiem.
"It's a very nice feeling to come through that and make the final here for the first time."
The 25-year-old Italian's streak came to an end after two hours and 17 minutes, and world No.8 Thiem will now face either 10-time champion Rafael Nadal or Juan Martin del Potro in Sunday's final.
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Cecchinato, who was formerly banned from tennis in 2016 as a result of a match- fixing investigation, had never won a grand slam match going into the 2018 event but dispatched eighth seed David Goffin and former world No.1 Novak Djokovic in a remarkable run.
Thiem grabbed a 2-0 head start in the first set as his powerful serve was fully charged and his approach to the net ruthless against a nervy Cecchinato.
The Austrian was aware of his opponent's ability to spring a comeback out of nowhere as he did against Goffin and Djokovic, and that was evident when he broke back to 4-4 after Thiem missed an easy volley.
Cecchinato gained his first lead at 5-4 on a quick-fire serve but Thiem rallied back with a timely drop shot to take the first set.
The pair were locked on serve in the second set until they were separated by an enthralling tiebreak.
Thiem had three set points at 6-3 but Cecchinato quashed them all and reversed a triple of set points in his favour, but he couldn't take advantage as two errors saw Thiem move ahead with victory in sight.
The young Austrian wasted no time and a high arcing lob dropped kindly for a 3-0 lead before another kind bounce helped him seal the match with a forehand winner.
"It's very important to regenerate now," Thiem said. "I will watch the second semi-final to study my next opponent a little bit, then full power on Sunday."
AAP
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