The second seed Austrian staged a brilliant comeback to rally back from two sets down to beat the fifth seed German in an epic finale on Sunday with the scoreline reading 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(6) ..
Thiem scripted a record of sorts at Flushing Meadows as he became the first men's singles champion at the US Open outside the 'Big 3' in six years after Marin Cilic happened to be the last player outside 'Federer-Nadal-Djokovic' trio to annex the crown in 2014 edition of the grand slam.
The Austrian who had previously reached three Grand Slam finals but losing all of them, eventually annexed his first even grand slam title.
His back to back two French Open final (2018 and 2019) losses came at the hands of Spanish legend Rafael Nadal, a 12-times champion at the Red Clay on Roland Garros, while he ended up as the losing finalist to world number one Novak Djokovic in a marathon 5-set Australian Open final earlier this year.
Thiem also became the first player to win the US Open title from two sets down since Pancho Gonzales in 1949. The US Open final also happened to be the first title summit in the men's singles to be decided via a fifth set tie breaker in the Open Era.
Thiem also improved upon his overall record against Zverev securing his 8th win over his German rival in what was their tenth meeting overall on the ATP World Tour. Thiem had beaten Zverev in the semifinals of the Australian Open earlier this year.
Thiem who suffered leg cramps during the five set grueling encounter looked completely drenched out and collapsed on his back after securing the final point in the fifth set to seal the match and claim his maiden title.
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Zverev, who came two points within winning his maiden grand slam walked around the net to offer a handshake and hug to his pal, a rare gesture of sportsmanship amid the new normal of social distancing .
"I wish you would have missed a little bit more so I could have held that trophy up,'' Zverev said, choking up when he mentioned his parents, "but here I am, giving the runner's-up speech.''
Dominic Thiem had beaten third seed and last year's finalist Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals while Alexander Zverev defeated Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busto in their semifinal encounter to book a place in the finals of the 2020 US Open.