PARIS — In the end, it turned into a rout on Friday, as Marco Cecchinato, one of the most unexpected semifinalists in Grand Slam history, ran out of energy, precision and creative solutions against Dominic Thiem.
But before the seventh-seeded Thiem finished off his 7-5, 7-6 (10), 6-1 victory in a hurry in the final set, Cecchinato gave him quite a fight and fright.
Cecchinato, an unseeded Italian, pushed the much more experienced Thiem hard in the opening set and had three set points before losing the marathon second-set tiebreaker: deploying the same kick serve, topspin groundstrokes and wicked drop shots that he had used to upset three seeded players in a row.