New York: Austria's Dominic Thiem claimed his first Grand Slam title with a stunning comeback to edge past Germany's Alexander Zverev 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(6) in Sunday's US Open final here.
From being two sets down, the 27-year-old world number three was in all sorts of trouble before hitting back from a break down to take the third.
In a nerve-wracking fourth set, Zverev faltered on serve at 3-4 allowing Thiem to take the contest to a decider.
Thiem then trailed 5-3 in the decider but rode on baseline winners to take it into a tiebreak. He squandered two match points from 6-4 but Zverev fired wide a third opportunity after four hours and two minutes.
Meanwhile, Thiem congratulated his 'great rival' and 'real friend on tour' Zverev and said that this match deserved more than one champion.
Taking to Twitter, Thiem wrote, "It had to be like this - my career was always like the match today - many ups and downs and I love the way it turned out."
"This match truly deserved more than one champion and I'm sure that you @AlexZverev will also lift this trophy sometimes soon. Thank you for being a great rival and more so for being a real friend on tour," he added.
(With IANS inputs)
