The 2020 season has been like no other in tennis. This year’s Baseline Awards look at the standout performers and moments during an unusual season. (Photos: Getty Images)
Coming off a 2019 campaign that saw him win his first Masters title in Indian Wells and make a run to the ATP Finals, two-time French Open finalist Dominic Thiem continued to prove that he was a threat on hard courts by reaching the championship round at the Australian Open to kick off 2020.
From the round of 16 through the semifinals, he defeated three members of the top 10 in a row: No. 10 Gael Monfils, top-ranked Rafael Nadal and world No. 7 Alexander Zverev. It appeared a fourth consecutive win against the game’s elite was in store when he took a two-sets-to-one lead against Novak Djokovic in the final. However, the world No. 2 rallied to win in five and Thiem was left on the outside looking in for the third time in his career.