Speaking of comebacks, Thiem needed all of the calm determination, and déjà vu shotmaking, he could muster to overcome Paul on Tuesday. When the American fired an ace to go up 5-2 in the third set, Thiem hung his head as he walked to the sideline; all seemed lost. But the crowd wouldn’t let him give in. A game later, Thiem took a hard crosscourt backhand from Paul and reflexed one of his signature one-handers up the line for a spectacular winner. It brought back old times, and brought the fans to their feet.
But he wasn’t out of the woods yet. Twenty minutes later, Thiem faced two match points at 4-6 in the deciding tiebreaker. This time he got some welcome help from Paul, who missed an easy backhand long and rushed an ugly forehand into the middle of the net to set Thiem up with match point. When Paul’s next return landed wide, Thiem fell to the court as if he had won the US Open all over again. We can forgive him the euphoria; it’s been a long road back.
Thiem will find himself up against the top-seeded Medvedev on Thursday. That’s an encounter to look forward to, and so is Thiem’s 2023 season. The men’s game has a new No. 1 in Alcaraz, and seemingly a young generation ready to follow him to the top. Thiem is 29, but there’s no reason he can’t be part of that new wave. He still has the shots and the hops, and this time he’ll have the fans in a way he never did before.