MELBOURNE: Locked in an even-as-can-be Australian Open semi-final, Dominic Thiem looked up at his guest box, patted his belly and stuck out his tongue, as if to indicate he was feeling sick. He shook his head. He winced.

Whatever might have been going on, Thiem turned out to be just fine — well enough to play, well enough to win.

The 26-year-old Austrian reached his third Grand Slam final overall and first at Melbourne Park by using his baseline bullying and big-moment bravado to beat Alexander Zverev 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4) on Friday night.

“I was feeling nerves, I think. I was putting so much energy, so much effort in, so my stomach was not ready for that. I think it was rebelling a little bit,” Thiem said, laughing about what happened. “But all good. I sometimes have it when I have tough matches.”

The key to Thiem’s victory over Zverev was the same as the key to his previous win, over world number one Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals: coming through in the clutch. Thiem went a combined 5 for 5 in tiebreakers in those matches.

“I was going for it. Could have also missed them,” he said about some of his shots Friday. “I was brave, but also lucky that I made these.”

The fifth-seeded Thiem’s opponent in the title match Sunday will be second seed Novak Djokovic, the defending champion who eliminated Roger Federer on Thursday.

With the men’s Grand Slams dominated for years by the ‘Big Three’ of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer, Thiem will bid to become the first man born in the 1990s to win a major title.

“For sure, he’s the favourite. I mean, he won seven titles here, never lost a final, going for his eighth one,” he said of the Serbian. “I’m playing great tennis. So (I’ll) try to be at my absolutely best on Sunday.”

Zverev bowed out with head held high after what many would hope a watershed tournament for the German wunderkind, who has struggled with the huge expectations heaped on him at the majors.

But having converted only five out of 14 break points and let two set points go begging in the third, the loss stung.

“Yeah, just got to execute better next time. But credit to him. He’s playing unbelievable tennis right now,” the seventh seed said.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2020