Best of 2020: Top 5 Best Grandslam matches of 2020

Best of 2020: Top 5 Best Grandslam matches of 2020

Dominic Thiem, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic

Dominic Thiem, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic

Who does not like to see a thrilling Grandslam clash? Like each year, this year also treated us to some exhilarating matches at Grandslam events. However, we witnessed just three majors in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Wimbledon Championships were cancelled owing to scheduling issues and the pandemic fears.

In spite of the shortened season, the tennis fans witnessed some epic and memorable matches at the Australian Open, French Open and the US Open. In this article, we will have a look at five best Grandslam matches of 2020.

Rank 5: Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem, Australian Open

Dominic Thiem defeated Rafael Nadal 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6

Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem clashed at the Australian Open in the quarterfinals. The match lived up to its expectations, ending in a four set victory for Dominic Thiem. But, it was by no means an easy victory for the Austrian. Thiem won the match by virtue of winning three tiebreakers against the Spaniard and each set was fought until it’s very end.

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Rafael Nadal won 143 points whereas, Thiem won just five more points (148) which shows how close the match was. Nadal served 11 aces and Thiem notched up 14 of them. The Austrian won the opening two sets winning the tiebreakers but Nadal won the third set 6-4, keeping himself alive in the match. However as it was meant to be, Thiem won the last set again in the tiebreaker and progressed to the semifinals.

Rank 4: Karen Khachanov vs Nick Kyrgios, Australian Open

Nick Kyrgios defeated Karen Khachanov 6-2,7-6,6-7,6-7,7-6

Nick Kyrgios and Karen Khachanov played out an entertaining five-setter in the third round of the Australian Open. The match was won by Kyrgios in the final set super tiebreaker. The Australian won the opening two sets and was en route to book his place in the fourth round, but Khachanov had different plans.

The Russian won the next two sets via tiebreakers to drag the match into the deciding fifth set. It was difficult to separate the two players even in the final set as the score was level at 6-6 games each. It needed a super tiebreaker of 10 points to decide the winner who was Nick Kyrgios. The Australian served 33 aces while the Russian served 21 aces in this match. Kyrgios won just six more points than Khachanov in the whole match.

Rank 3: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Novak Djokovic, French Open

Novak Djokovic defeated Tsitsipas 6-3,6-2,5-7,4-6,6-2

Stefanos Tsitsipas battled the top seed, Novak Djokovic in the semifinal of the French Open. The Greek had done extremely well to reach thus far in the tournament. Tsitsipas started off poorly losing the first two sets in comfortable fashion and it looked as if the Serbian was in a hurry to finish off the match.

Novak Djokovic was serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set when the Greek broke back and started his comeback. He won the third set 7-5 and took the fourth set 6-4. However, the Greek ran out of gas in the fifth set where he was struggling with an injury as revealed by him later and lost the set 6-1 which handed the Serbian a place in the final.

Rank 2: Dominic Thiem vs Alexander Zverev, US Open

Dominic Thiem defeated Alexander Zverev 2-6,4-6,6-4,6-3,7-6

Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem who are great friends off court battled it out to claim their first major in the US Open final. Thiem who was carrying a foot injury looked all out of sorts in the opening two sets and found himself trailing 2-0.

Dominic Thiem who was down a break in the third set looked on course to losing his third Grandslam final. But, then the Austrian got the break back and won the third set 6-4. He also won the fourth set 6-3 to take the match into the decider. Both players were inseparable in the decider as the score read 6-6. The final set tiebreaker was clinched by Dominic Thiem in a nervy fashion as he lifted his first Grandslam title and completed his comeback.

Rank 1: Diego Schwartzman vs Dominic Thiem, French Open

Diego Schwartzman defeated Thiem 7-6,5-7,6-7,7-6,6-2

Diego Schwartzman and Dominic Thiem known to be clay court specialists played out a thriller in the French Open quarterfinals this year. The Argentine came at the back of a final appearance at the Italian Open, having beaten Rafael Nadal. Schwartzman started off the match well, winning the first set in the tiebreaker. Dominic Thiem hit right back taking the second set 7-5 and took a lead when he won the third set tiebreaker.

It looked as if nothing was going Schwartzman’s way in the fourth set. He was a break up which he squandered. But, he regained his composure and won the fourth set again in the tiebreaker, pushing the match into a final set.It was all Schwartzman in the final set as he won the match clinching the final set 6-2, and booked his place in his first ever Grandslam semifinal.

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