Tennis: Tyro Thiem beats Goffin to reach French Open semis

Dominic Thiem of Austria reacts in the French Open men's singles quarter-final match against David Goffin on June 2, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS

PARIS (Reuters) - Gutsy young gun Dominic Thiem saw off Belgium's David Goffin 4-6, 7-6(9-7), 6-4, 6-1 in a French Open clash on Thursday to reach his first grand slam semi-final, where he will face world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

Both players took time to find their range in cold, damp conditions and the first three games yielded three breaks of serve, including one that 12th-seeded Goffin conceded on a double fault.

Thiem, seeded 13th, began finding the lines with heavy groundstrokes off both wings. But as his accuracy then waned, the Belgian tightened his defensive play, creating openings to attack the Austrian's weaker backhand and winning the set on his first set point.

But after a tight second set that Thiem shaded 9-7 in the tiebreak, the Austrian added the precision that his power game had earlier been missing to take the third and fourth sets more comfortably.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.