World number five Dominic Thiem captured his fifth title of 2019 at his home tournament in Vienna this afternoon, with the Austrian coming from a set down against fifth seed and good friend Diego Schwartzman to capture his 16th career title.

Being the highest seed and home favourite in Vienna, Thiem has certainly had a lot of expectation on him this week and has not always found it easy, rallying from a set down against Fernando Verdasco in the second round and against Matteo Berrettini in the last four yesterday. Schwartzman meanwhile had dropped just one set on his way to the final, and troubled Thiem to begin with in this final. 

It was a nervy start for both men, with a trade of breaks to start the final. Every point won by Thiem received a rapturous reception from the Viennese crowd, though it was Schwartzman who looked more comfortable as the final progressed, breaking for a 3-2 lead and consolidating for 4-2. The Argentine continued to look the more solid of the two, and broke to love at 5-3 to take the opening set after 45 minutes. 

Schwartzman found himself under pressure early in set two, saving break point in his first two service games, but held, and later forced break points on Thiem’s serve as he looked to close the match out in straight sets. However, the Austrian held firm and struck towards the end of the set, breaking at 4-4 and holding to force a decider.

After a strong end to the second set, Thiem broke at the very start of the decider, and consolidated to put himself in control of the final for the first time. Though Schwartzman fought hard he could not create any opportunities on the Austrian’s serve, and a second break of serve for the top seed at 5-3 saw him capture his first title at his home tournament, falling on the ground in celebration after one final forehand winner.

Though his slam performances outside of the French Open have been disappointing, Thiem has certainly had his most consistent year at tour-level events, with five titles this year beating the four that he won in the 2016 season. Both him and Schwartzman will head to Paris ahead of the final Masters 1000 event of the year. 

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