Who is Dominic Thiem, The Man Who Slayed Djokovic?

The Austrian has 8 ATP World Tour titles under his belt.

Everyone loves a great upset. In the world of tennis, it happens at nearly every grand slam tournament, but when the top seeds get bested before even reaching the semis, it’s a big deal.

Austria’s Dominic Thiem, seeded sixth in the tournament, dispatched defending champion Novak Djokovic with an odd amount of ease, eliminating the Serbian in straight sets.

Thiem won the game 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-0 and set up another dream match with former nine-time champion Rafael Nadal.

It’s amazing for me! To beat him for the first time in the quarters of the French Open is a dream.

Dominic Thiem

So, who exactly is this amazing Austrian?

Past Record

Prior to their meeting, Thiem had lost his five previous encounters against Djokovic, managing to take a set off the Serbian only once.

Despite the unfavourable record, Thiem is far from a pushover. He has won 8 ATP World Tour Titles in the last three years, including a successful defence of his title in the Nice masters.

Prior to his quarter-final clash against Novak Djokovic, the furtherest the Austrian had reached in a Grand Slam tournament was a fourth-round finish in the 2017 Australian Open.

Play-Style

Thiem is primarily an aggressive baseline player who is adept at defending as well. He plays primarily with a heavy forehand and a powerful single-handed backhand. He is notably one of the few younger ATP players to use a single-handed backhand, in a style reminiscent to that of a young Roger Federer.

Thiem used heavy, penetrating groundstrokes to better Djokovic, winning the first set and setting the pace for the rest of the encounter.

The top-spin he produced on his groundstrokes allowed him to attack Djokovic on the backfoot, but also defend well against his devastating forehands.

Djokovic lost a final set by the score of 6-0 for only the second time in his 937 career tour-level matches.