2020 Australian Open Men’s Final Open Thread: Novak Djokovic v Dominic Thiem
The decades’s first Grand Slam will be decided tonight as Novak Djokovic battles Dominic Thiem for the 2020 Australian Open title
This will be their 11th meeting, first in a final. Djokovic leads 6-4 but Thiem has won four of the last meetings including two straight in Grand Slam play.
The 7-time champion Djokovic enters on a 13-match winning straight in Melbourne. And this event he’s lost just one set and is a perfect 7-0 in the final.
Thiem comes into his first hard court Slam final after two tough 4-set wins over Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev. He’s the first Austrian to make the Australian Open final as he tries to win his first career Grand Slam title.
Thiem has come up short in the last two French Open finals to Rafael Nadal.
ITF TOURNAMENT NOTES
* Seven-time Australian Open champion DJOKOVIC is bidding to win his 8th Australian Open title and extend his all-time record for most men’s singles titles here.
* Djokovic is also bidding to win his 17th Grand Slam title and close the gap on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the top of the all-time list for most Grand Slam men’s singles titles.
* Djokovic is bidding to become the 3rd man in history to win at least 8 titles at the same Grand Slam event. Nadal, who has won 12 titles at Roland Garros, holds the record for most titles at the same Grand Slam event. Federer is the only other man to have won 8 titles at a Grand Slam event, having won 8 titles at Wimbledon.
* At 32 years 256 days, Djokovic is bidding to win his 5th Grand Slam title since turning 30 and equal Nadal’s Open Era record for most Grand Slam men’s singles titles won after the age of 30. Since celebrating his 30th birthday on 22 May 2017, Djokovic has won 4 major titles – at Wimbledon in 2018 and 2019, the 2018 US Open and here last year.
* Djokovic is bidding to win his 78th Tour-level singles title and claim sole ownership of 5th place on the Open Era list for most Tour-level men’s singles titles won, ahead of John McEnroe.
* THIEM is bidding to become the 150th Grand Slam men’s singles champion in history. Marin Cilic, the most-recent first-time major winner, became the 149th different man to win a Grand Slam title at the 2014 US Open.
* Thiem is bidding to become the first player born in the 1990s to win a Grand Slam men’s singles title. At 26 years, 152 days, he will become the youngest men’s Grand Slam champion since Cilic (25 years 345 days) won the title at the 2014 US Open and the youngest men’s Australian Open champion since Djokovic in 2013 (25 years 250 days) if he wins tonight.
* Thiem is bidding to become the 2nd Austrian player – man or woman – in history to win a Grand Slam singles title. 1995 Roland Garros champion Thomas Muster is the only Austrian player to win a Grand Slam singles title.
* Thiem is bidding to avoid becoming the 4th man in the Open Era to lose his first 3 Grand Slam finals – after Ivan Lendl and Andy Murray, who both lost 4 Grand Slam finals before winning their first major titles, and Goran Ivanisevic, who lost his first 3 Grand Slam finals before winning his only major title at 2001 Wimbledon.
* If he wins his first Australian Open title on his 7th appearance here, Thiem will go joint-4th on the Open Era list for most attempts before winning the Australian Open title, alongside Lendl and Marat Safin. By reaching the final here for the first time, he went joint-8th on the Open Era list for most attempts before reaching the Australian Open final, alongside Fernando Gonzalez.
Head-to-head: Djokovic leads 6-4
An 11th meeting for the pair, their 5th on a hard court, their 4th at a Grand Slam and their first at the Australian Open. All 10 of their previous meetings have come at Grand Slams, Masters-1000 events or the ATP Finals.
This is the first time that Djokovic and Thiem will meet in a final at any level.
Djokovic won the pair’s first 5 meetings between October 2014 and May 2017, dropping only one set to Thiem during that time. Thiem defeated Djokovic for the first time at Roland Garros in June 2017 – and of their most-recent 5 meetings, Thiem has won 4, with his only defeat to Djokovic in that time coming in the semifinals at Madrid-1000 last year.
SUNDAY AUSTRALIAN OPEN SCHEDULE
3pm
Men’s Doubles Final
(12) R. Ram/J. Salisury v (WC) M. Purcell/L. Saville
Men’s Singles Final
NOT BEFORE 7:30PM
(5) Dominic Thiem (AUT) v (1) Novak Djokovic (SRB)
WUNDERGROUND.COM SUNDAY FORECAST
A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 56F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph.
LADBROKES ODDS
Novak Djokovic 1/4 v Dominic Thiem 14/5
US TV SCHEDULE
ESPN will have live coverage of the men’s final at 3:30am ET.
POLL
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