The men's singles title clash in the 2020 US Open is an inflection point in men's tennis as a new grand slam singles champion outside the much famed 'Big 3' (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic) will be crowned in over half a decade at the grand slam tournament in New York.
In the absence of multiple time champions Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal amid the Covid-19 pandemic and top seed and title favourite Novak Djokovic's rather bizarre exit in the fourth round of the men's singles section, history is up for the making at Flushing Meadows as for the very first time in six years, a first time men's singles champion will be crowned at US Open after Marin Cilic being crowned the men's singles champion in 2014 US Open .
Both the finalists - Thiem and Zverev who for long have been touted as part of the 'Generation Next' to take on the mantle of tennis from the much famed and highly successful 'Big 3' will be battling it out in the grand finale to win their maiden grand slam title.
ROAD TO THE FINALS
While second seed Dominic Theim defeated third seed Russian and last year's finalist Daniil Medvedev to book his place in the summit clash, Alexander Zverev fended off a stiff challenge from 20th seed Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta to make his maiden grand slam finals at Flushing Meadows.
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GRAND SLAM RECORD
Theim Has Made It To Four Grand Slam Finals, Zverev Is Playing His Maiden Final
Dominic Thiem knows what it is to be in a grand slam final as the Austrian has reached 3 slam finals but ended up on the losing side in all of them. While Thiem lost two back to back French Open finals (2018 and 2019) at Roland Garros to Rafael Nadal, he finished second best to Novak Djokovic in the 2020 Australian Open held earlier this year.
Zverev who has made it to his maiden singles Grand Slam final in his career so far, had earlier made it to the semifinals of the 2020 Australian Open earlier this year where he lost a thrilling encounter to Dominic Thiem.
HEAD TO HEAD - Dominic Thiem Leads Zverev 7-2 In 9 Meetings
Dominic Thiem holds the edge over Alexander Zverev in their previous nine meetings on the World Tour with seven wins over the German. Thiem won the last three meetings between the two players, including the Australian open semifinal encounter with a four set win over Zverev.
Thiem Has More ATP Singles Titles, Zverev Has Better Record In Big Finals
Thiem has racked up 16 career singles titles as compared to Zverev who has won 11 ATP singles titles on the world tour. However, one telling statistic which goes in Zverev's favour is his stellar record in major tournaments finals. While Zverev has won 3 ATP Master Series (1000 level) tournaments and a ATP World Tour final in 2018, Thiem has chocked at the big stage with 1-6 record in the 'Big Finals'.
In a few hours from now, the world shall witness the battle of aggressive baseliners as the ever consistent Austrian Thiem takes on big serving German Alexander Zverev in the men's singles finals of the US Open. Irrespective of how the result pans out and who ends up holding the trophy, one thing which is certain for sure is that men's tennis will witness a below 30-year champion after a decade long stranglehold by the 'Big 3' at the grand slams