Tennis: 7 things to know about US Open champion Dominic Thiem

(REUTERS) – Austria’s Dominic Thiem, who beat German Alexander Zverev 2-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6(6) to win the US Open title on Sunday (Sept 13), is the first player other than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic to win a Grand Slam since Swiss Stan Wawrinka captured the 2016 US Open.

Here is a look at Thiem’s career so far.

1. He was born on Sept 3, 1993 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. His parents are Wolfgang and Karin Thiem, both of whom are tennis coaches, and he began playing at the age of six.

2. He made his ATP Tour debut in 2011 at Kitzbuehel as a wildcard, losing to Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the first round. He won his first main draw match later that year, against compatriot Thomas Muster at Vienna.

3. He made his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in 2014, defeating Joao Sousa before losing to Kevin Anderson in the second round. He reached his first ATP Tour final later that year at Kitzbuehel – losing to David Goffin – and ended the year inside the top 50.

4. He won his first ATP Tour title in Nice the following year and followed it up with titles in Umag and Gstaad, finishing as the youngest player in the top 20.

5. He broke into the top 10 in 2016 after winning titles at Buenos Aires, Acapulco, Nice and Stuttgart, and qualified for the ATP Finals for the first time in his career.

6. He advanced to his first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros in 2018, losing to Nadal. He lost again to Nadal in the 2019 French Open final an d fell to Djokovic in this year’s Australian Open final.

7. He won his maiden Masters 1000 crown in 2019 at Indian Wells, beating Federer in the final. Thiem ended the season with five titles, joint-most with Djokovic.