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Masters: Thiem dominates Djokovic and goes to the final

Novak Djokovic will have to wait to equal Roger Federer. Beaten by Dominic Thiem (7-5, 6-7,7-6) in the semifinals of the Masters, in London, this Saturday, the Serbian will not equal the six titles of Switzerland at the Masters Tournament, this weekend .

The world number 1, who had already yielded to Daniil Medvedev (6-3, 6-3), in the pool, again fell against an excellent Dominic Thiem. Already brilliant against Rafael Nadal in the group stage, the world number 3 won a 5th success in 12 confrontations against the “Djoker”.

In a hotly contested first round, where the servers took turns to rule, Thiem gradually raised his level of play and, with cold realism, seized his only break opportunity, at 5-5. Before concluding, solid, to pocket the set in 51 minutes.

In the second set, despite an impressive performance behind his first ball (26 points won out of 29), Djokovic was scared. The Serbian first let slip 2 set points at 6-5, then two more in a dantesque tie-break. Above all, he was lucky to see his opponent tremble when it came time to conclude. Thus, Thiem was unable to convert any of his 4 match points, spoiled in particular by a double fault and a direct fault. It therefore took a great fright and three opportunities for Djokovic to pick up 1 set everywhere, offering himself this decisive game (12-10).

Equally contested, the final round was also played in the decisive game, with no break points to report. Leading 4-0 in the tie-break, Thiem scored 7 points to overthrow the Serb and sign a prestigious success, after almost three hours of fighting. In 2019, Thiem had beaten him in hens before another setback against Federer prevented him from reaching the semi-finals. This time, the Austrian barred him from reaching the final.

Already a finalist last year – he lost in three sets to Stefanos Tsitsipas – Thiem hopes to win a first Masters Tournament, after lifting his first Grand Slam trophy in September at the US Open.

At 9 p.m., the other half will pit world number 2 Rafael Nadal, looking for his first Masters success, against Russian Daniil Medvedev, 4th at ATP, who had plenty of group victories, without losing a single set.

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