(Reuters) – A look at the key facts and records of Russia’s Daniil Medvedev and Austria’s Dominic Thiem before their U.S. Open semi-final on Friday (prefix number denotes seeding):
3-DANIIL MEDVEDEV
Age: 24
ATP ranking: 5 (Highest ranking: 4)
Grand Slam titles: 0
Career ATP titles: 7
2019 U.S. Open performance: Runner-up
Best U.S. Open performance: (Runner-up 2019)
ROAD TO SEMI-FINAL
First round: Federico Delbonis (Argentina) 6-1 6-2 6-4
Second round: Christopher O’Connell (Australia) 6-3 6-2 6-4
Third round: J.J. Wolf (U.S.) 6-3 6-3 6-2
Fourth round: Frances Tiafoe (U.S.) 6-4 6-1 6-0
Quarter-finals: 10-Andrey Rublev (Russia) 7-6(6) 6-3 7-6(5)
Medvedev, who lost to Rafa Nadal in the 2019 final, has not dropped a set in this year’s tournament and is the favourite to claim his maiden Grand Slam title on Sunday.
No player in the Open era has won the U.S. Open men’s title without dropping a set.
2-DOMINIC THIEM
Age: 27
ATP ranking: 3 (Highest ranking: 3)
Grand Slam titles: 0
Career ATP titles: 16
2019 U.S. Open performance: First round
Best U.S. Open performance: Semi-finals (2020)
ROAD TO SEMI-FINAL
First round: Jaume Munar (Spain) 7-6(6) 6-3 retired.
Second round: Sumit Nagal (India) 6-3 6-3 6-2
Third round: 31-Marin Cilic (Croatia) 6-2 6-2 3-6 6-3
Fourth round: 15-Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada) 7-6(4) 6-1 6-1
Quarter-finals: 21-Alex de Minaur (Australia) 6-1 6-2 6-4
The 27-year-old is the highest surviving seed and has been in top form as he chases his maiden Grand Slam title.
Thiem has finished runner-up at a Grand Slam three times — at this year’s Australian Open and at the French Open in 2018 and 2019. His previous best effort at Flushing Meadows was his run to the quarter-finals two years ago.
HEAD TO HEAD: Thiem leads 2-1
2019 Medvedev d Thiem 6-3 6-1 (Montreal, hard)
2019 Thiem d Medvedev 6-4 6-0 (Barcelona, clay)
2018 Thiem d Medvedev 6-2 3-6 7-6(2) (St. Petersburg, hard)
(Compiled by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
