WHAT HAPPENED: Dominic Thiem, the second-seeded Austrian, advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2020 US Open by handily defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, 7-6, 6-1, 6-1.
In a battle of two terrifically athletic baseliners—their first meeting—Thiem, 27, used his superior firepower, heavy spin and variety off the ground to unsettle and defeat the 20-year-old Canadian.
Auger-Aliassime, the 15th seed, was playing in the fourth round of a major for the first time. Thiem has been the finalist at three Slams, though he is yet to walk away victorious.
In the first set, Thiem was in complete control of the court and the scoreboard, up a break and serving for the set at 5-4. He suddenly played a very poor game on serve, making four bad errors off the ground, to give Auger-Aliassime new life.
It was short-lived, however; in the tiebreak, Thiem reasserted his early dominance.
The Austrian world No. 3 raced out to a quick lead in set number two, continuing to hit hard and deep against the Canadian. Auger-Aliassime appeared to run out of answers, and Thiem confidently served out the set at love, crushing a topspin backhand cross-court winner, to take the set in just 36 minutes.
The third set was even more one-sided. The Austrian broke at love with a scorching backhand winner to storm into the quarterfinals.
Though their game plans appeared to be very similar—hit as many forehands as possible and hit to the opponent's backhand as much as possible—Thiem simply has more shots in his arsenal, as well as much greater experience in the big stages.
Thiem neutralized Auger-Aliassime’s serve by returning from very deep in the court, nearly at the backstop, and crushing heavy topspin returns. He effectively trapped the Canadian behind the service line and prevented him from making many early offensive strikes.
"Sets two and three were 100 percent the best sets so far for me," Thiem declared in his on-court interview.
"I just beat an amazing opponent, an upcoming superstar."
"It was my best match so far," said Thiem.
WHAT IT MEANS: Thiem has lost his three major finals to Novak Djokovic (Australian Open 2020) and Rafael Nadal (French Open 2018-19). With neither of those players in the draw after Djokovic’s default on middle Sunday, the 2020 US Open represents by far Thiem’s best chance to snatch that elusive first Grand Slam title. The only other player remaining in the draw who has advanced to a major final is Daniil Medvedev, who lost to Nadal in a thrilling five-set encounter in Flushing Meadows in 2019.
"For myself and the other remaining players left in the draw, it doesn’t matter at all if the Big Three are here or not. I think everybody just wants their hands on this trophy," said Thiem.
At the beginning of this year's campaign, there were doubts about the courts' fast speed and how Thiem, who requires more time for his big-windup groundstrokes, would adapt. So far he is adapting just fine, thank you.
Thiem now plays the speedy counterpuncher Alex de Minaur of Australia, the 21st seed.
Monday’s fourth round was the biggest match of Auger-Aliassime’s career. He came in with a burst of confidence, having won his previous two matches in dominant fashion, striking 86 winners. Against the court-smothering Thiem, the Canadian could manage just 24, against 51 unforced errors. Auger-Aliassime is now 2-11 versus Top 10 opponents, though his loss against Thiem was the first in a major.
MATCH POINT: The 2020 US Open is only the second time at a major in the Open era (since 1968) that no former men's singles champions reached the quarterfinal stage. To say this represents an opportunity for Thiem is an understatement.
"That’s the only strange thing about the fact that the Big Three are not around, is that I’m probably one of the oldest players left," said the 27-year-old Thiem.
"That is surreal to me.”
