How Aussies belting out Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ helped Dominic Thiem overcome an unusual medical aliment and secure a place in the Australian Open final
- Dominic Thiem faced off in a tough semi-final match against Alexander Zverev
- The match was paused in the third round after they split the first two sets
- After the match Thiem said Neil Diamond’s song helped ‘loosen him up’
Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ helped Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem secure a spot in the Australian Open final.
The Austrian tennis star faced off against Alexander Zverev in a tense semi-final on Friday at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
Zverev had Thiem on the back foot after securing the first set before the World No.5 managed to level the scores going into the third.
Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem said he was inspired by fans belting out Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ as he faced off against Alexander Zverev in a tense semi-final on Friday. Both pictured
The tense match was brought to a halt for ten minutes as maintenance crew quickly fixed lights that had dimmed sections of arena.
As the game paused, Thiem broke out a in smile as Australians in the stands belted out the 1969 rock n roll hit.
Thiem went on to take the final three sets and secure a spot in the finals against Novak Djokovic on Sunday night.
As the game paused, Thiem broke out a in smile as Australians in the stands belted out the 1969 rock n roll hit which he said ‘loosed him up’ before he took the final three sets
Thiem won the match and in doing so secured a spot in the finals against Novak Djokovic on Sunday
‘I like that song,’ Thiem said in a post-game interview.
‘I felt like I’m in Austria on skiing holidays. That’s where they play that song all the time.
‘It was loosening me up a little bit.’
Thiem said the song helped him as he fought back stomach pain.
‘I think I was putting so much energy and so much effort in so my stomach was not ready for that and it was rebelling a little bit,’ he said.
‘It was all good but it sometimes happens when it’s really close and it’s in a tough match.’