US OPEN

September 10, 2020

Dominic Thiem

Press Conference

D. THIEM/A. de Minaur

6-1, 6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How does it feel to be the first Austrian to reach the semifinals of the US Open?

DOMINIC THIEM: It feels good to be in the semis here in general for the first time. I mean, if I'm the first Austrian or not, it's not that important. For me, for myself, it's really nice to reach the semis also at this slam here, especially under tough mental circumstances with the times we are going through and everything. That's really great for me.

Well, it's nice to be in the semis at three of the four slams.

Q. Of any particular matches that Daniil has played, have any stuck out to you? What do you think is most difficult about playing him?

DOMINIC THIEM: Matches I saw from Daniil or in general?

Q. From Daniil.

DOMINIC THIEM: Yeah, I mean, I saw many matches of him. Also the one today, I saw big parts of it. Unfortunately the missed the finals last year because I was still jetlagged from my own trip and everything. I saw it on videos on YouTube. I mean, it was for sure one of the better slam finals ever I would say. It was an amazing match.

I would say that he comes very close to the big three players in terms that he can play his level, his top level, for doesn't matter how long, I mean, four, five, six hours. That's going to be really, really difficult.

But I'm looking forward to that one. I think it's going to be a big stage, even if it's without fans. It's going to be a great semifinals.

Q. Elaborate on what you've been going through, had to overcome to focus on your matches.

DOMINIC THIEM: Yeah, I mean, it's not easy mentally to keep all the time the 100% energy and everything. To everything else I got used to, to all the circumstances, to all the situation. I think it's in general great that we are able to play this tournament.

But there are some situations in every match basically where it would be nice to have the crowd just to keep the energy up, just to celebrate great points, that it doesn't feel that bad if you going through a tough period in that certain match. That all kind of is gone when there are no fans in the stadium. That was not easy to get used to.

But also today I would say in the third set, the whole match was a little bit flat from both of us. He was the first one who got his energy back and broke me. Again through this we both fired up again and it got a really great match again.

But it's a unique situation. Now I'm in the semis. It was my fifth match today so I got used to it. As I said, there's still situations where it's difficult or where the energy of the crowd would help.

Q. How much did the finals you've played motivate you through the second week of a Grand Slam now? Are you thinking back to the memories at all?

DOMINIC THIEM: I do, yeah, because these are great memories, the slams I went deep, even though I lost three finals. If I think back at these tournaments, they were great to me. I lost finals against all-time greats, especially last year Paris and this year Australia. I think they were great matches.

I love to look back at them and of course look back at them now and check out what I can improve. I hope these experiences help me also in this US Open.