Dominic Thiem wins US Open; beats Alexander Zverev from 2 sets down for maiden Grand Slam

Austria's Dominic Thiem claimed his first Grand Slam title by beating Germany’s Alexander Zverev 2-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6(6) in U.S Open final on Sunday. He became the first man in 71 years to win the U.S. Open after dropping the first two sets of the final. 
The U.S. Open never had been decided by a fifth-set tiebreaker.

'I wish we could have two winners today'

Thiem, the 27-year-old from Austria, entered Sunday with an 0-3 career record in major title matches while this was Zverev’s debut in a Grand Slam final. The match capped a two-tournament “controlled environment” for tennis in New York amid the Coronavirus pandemic, with regular testing for COVID-19 and zero fans allowed.

”We started to know each other back in 2014 and straight away started to develop a great friendship… and then a great rivalry,” Thiem said. “We’ve made great things happen on the court and off the court. It’s amazing how far our journey brought us to share this moment. I wish we could have two winners today. We both deserved it,” he added.

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'The last two years haven't been easy'

"First of all, I want to congratulate Dominic on a first of many Grand Slam titles. I wish you would have missed a bit more so I could have held that trophy but here I am giving the runners-up speech. I want to thank my team for sticking with me, the last two years haven't been easy. We are definitely on our way up and one day, we are all gonna lift up that trophy together, " Alexander Zverev said. 

Naomi Osaka had earlier won the women's singles after coming from behind to beat Victoria Azarenka for her second US Open title.

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(With AP inputs)