Dominic Thiem will meet defending champion Novak Djokovic in tomorrow’s Australian Open final after digging deep to beat Alexander Zverev on Friday.

Thiem, 26, won 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4) in a match briefly interrupted by rain and a lighting failure.

The Austrian fifth seed said: “it was an unreal match” and he will now look to win his first Grand Slam, after losing the past two French Open finals.

Djokovic is favourite to win a record-extending eighth title and 17th major. The 32-year-old has lost just three matches in the past 10 Australian Open tournaments.

German seventh seed Zverev, 22, was bidding to reach his first Grand Slam final but instead, it his good friend who will play for the title.

“To reach the Australian Open final is unreal,” said Thiem, who will bid to become only the second Austrian player – after Thomas Muster at the 1995 French Open – to win a Grand Slam.

Read Also: Australian Open: Coco bid ends as Djokovic, Federer hit quarters

“Two tie-breaks, so tough and so close, it was almost impossible to break him.”

Thiem produced a heroic effort, physically and mentally, to beat Spanish top seed Rafael Nadal in an epic quarter-final that lasted more than four hours on Wednesday.

As a result it looked as though the Austrian, who said he did not get to sleep until 5am following that win, was lacking energy against Zverev.

The crushing groundstrokes he produced against Nadal initially lacked fizz, largely down to being pinned back by the big-serving German.

“It is not easy because I played four hours and 10 minutes against Rafa, who is the most intense man on tour,” said Thiem, who is through to his first Australian Open final.