Austrian will need to overcome injury and an inability to win when it matters most as the US Open final looms large
Alexander Zverev smiled weakly when reminded yet again that the last time a German won the US Open – Boris Becker, in 1989 – the Berlin Wall was still standing. But Zverev (whose parents both played for the Soviet Union) also knows that, if his wounded Austrian friend, Dominic Thiem, is similarly upright on Sunday, one of them will make tennis history.
Thiem hurt his leg when playing the enigmatic Russian Daniil Medvedev on Friday evening and was later unsure if it was adrenalin that had carried him through repeated crises to win in three sets that were much better than any of the five it took Zverev to beat Pablo Carreño Busta in the first semi-final. The resilient world No 3 has a day to recover but the injury will play on his mind.
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