Dominic Thiem becomes first Austrian to reach U.S Open semifinals

Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Dominic Thiem became the first Austrian player to clinch a spot in a U.S. Open semifinal with a straight-sets victory over Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam in Queens, N.Y.

Thiem fired 11 aces in the two-hour, four-minute triumph Wednesday at Arthur Ashe Stadium inside the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

He advanced to face No. 3 Daniil Medvedev in a semifinal match Friday. Medvedev also advanced Wednesday with a straight-sets win over No. 10 Andrey Rublev.

"It's going to be really difficult, but I'm looking forward to it," Thiem said of his match against Medvedev. "It's going to be on a big stage and going to be a great semifinals."

The winner of the semifinal will battle No. 5 Alexander Zverev or No. 20 Pablo Carreno Busta in the men's singles final.

Thiem has advanced to two Grand Slam finals -- the 2018 and 2019 French Open -- but has yet to claim a victory. He is the highest remaining seed at the 2020 U.S. Open after No. 1 Novak Djokovic was disqualified and Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer chose not to attend the event.

Thiem produced 43 winners and had 31 unforced errors in his 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 quarterfinal performance. De Minaur had 17 winners and 25 errors in the loss.

No. 3 Serena Williams and unseeded Victoria Azarenka advanced out of the quarterfinals in the women's singles circuit Wednesday and will meet in a semifinal match at 8:15 p.m. EDT.

No. 4 Naomi Osaka and No. 28 Jennifer Brady will clash in the other women's semifinal at 7 p.m. EDT Thursday.

The men return to the court Friday for their semifinal matches.