Dominic Thiem defeated Stan Wawrinka at the 2023 Paris Masters despite facing a match point late in the third set.
This match started very late because the programme before it extended far beyond anybody's imagination. Andy Murray's long three-set match helped it, as did many other matches on the schedule.
It was a 3-set match that lasted over two hours, and that didn't help the cause. It was a good match for both players as we saw plenty of winners and, more importantly, plenty of beautiful backhand winners.
It's still one of the most beautiful shots in tennis when done properly and they both had some good ones. The opening set was just incredibly impressive from Wawrinka, who served better and hit the ball better.
That's all you need on hard courts really, as 5 aces and 15 winners were more than enough for him to take the opening set.
The second one opened with an early break for Thiem, who was a bit more precise this time around. He also pushed Wawrinka a bit more, forcing him more on the defensive, from which he wasn't able to hit as many winners as in the first set.
Thiem didn't hold the early break but broke once more towards the end of the set, which proved enough 6-4. Wawrinka even had a couple of break points in that final game of the second set, but Thiem held to force a decider.
The final set opened with both players doing really well. Neither faced any issues on serve or break points, but they then traded breaks at the end of the match. Thiem saved a match point to further extend the match which didn't make Wawrinka happy after admitting to being tired and broken a few days ago.
That tiredness ultimately caught up with Wawrinka, who got broken at 5-5 giving Thiem the chance to finish off the match. He ultimately would, with the final score being 3-6 6-3 7-5.
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