Djokovic saved a fifth match point but Thiem finally got the job done when he forced his opponent to float a defensive forehand over the baseline.
Alexander Zverev won the first set 7-6, but Novak Djokovic has been forced to withdraw from the match due to injury from the Australian Open semi-final on Friday.
Only one player has beaten Rafael Nadal on his beloved claycourts this year and that man, Austria's Dominic Thiem, blocks the Spaniard's path to the French Open final.
Zverev needed treatment on his left hamstring in the second set and was clearly hampered as his close friend Thiem put him through the wringer with his trademark groundstrokes.
Dominic Thiem claimed his first Masters 1000 title after coming from a set down to defeat Roger Federer
IMAGES from Day 6 of the matches played at the US Open at Flushing Meadows on Saturday.
The two standout performers will meet after 21-year-old Greek debutant Tsitsipas eclipsed six-times champion Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4 and Austrian Thiem dispatched defending champion Alexander Zverev 7-5, 6-3.
Sonego's first top-10 victory capped a dream week for the 25-year-old, who lost the final qualifier but entered the main draw as a lucky loser.
Fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov survived a scare against Pierre-Hugues Herbert before holding his nerve to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday, while Dominic Thiem edged out Russian youngster Andrey Rublev.
Andy Murray recovered from an early setback to beat Austrian Dominic Thiem.
Thirteen years on and his record next to the Bois de Boulogne stands at an incredible 85 wins and two losses.
India's Nagal draws world No 128 Bradley Klahn in opener.
Photos from the French Open matches played at the Roland Garros on Thursday
The unheralded Ramkumar, ranked 222 in the world, brushed aside the Austrian's challenge 6-3, 6-2 in only 59 minutes to make it to the last eight of the $439,000 prize-money tournament.
Rafael Nadal consolidated his flying start to the clay-court season by taking a record-extending fifth Madrid Open title on Sunday, battling past a determined Dominic Thiem to win 7-6(10-8), 6-4.
Images from all the action from Day 1 of the French Open played at Roland Garros in Paris on Sunday
Nadal said the two-week gap between the French Open and Wimbledon was not enough time for him to recuperate
Jannik Sinner retained his Australian Open title with an emphatic 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 win over Alexander Zverev on Sunday
Nadal converted two of three break chances to claim his 19th win in 22 encounters against the Swiss.
World number one Novak Djokovic continued his dominant form in Tokyo to storm past Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-1, 6-2 and into the semi-finals of the Japan Open.
The professional tennis circuit, which requires players to jet around the world, was forced into shutdown in early March as countries went into lockdown and closed their borders to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Second seed Roger Federer powered to a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 win over Roberto Bautista on Tuesday, charging into the quarter-finals of the US Open for the 10th time in 11 years.
Rafa Nadal returned to action for the first time since January at the Brisbane International on Sunday, losing his doubles match but overall showing no obvious after-effects of the hip injury that ruined his year.
The fifth-seeded Austrian, who saved two match points, will face Novak Djokovic on Saturday after the world number one's opponent Marin Cilic withdrew with food poisoning.
Sinner won in Cincinnati this week to claim his fifth title of a breakout season before the revelation that he avoided a ban over two positive tests
Ramkumar became the first Indian in seven years to advance to the singles final of an ATP World Tour event but missed out on ending India's 20-year title drought when he lost the Hall of Fame final to Steven Johnson on Sunday night.
Former champion Stan Wawrinka battled past Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev in five sets to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals with a 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 victory. Fifth seed Dominic Thiem kept his flawless record against Gael Monfils intact with a trouble-free 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 victory on Monday to reach his maiden Australian Open quarter-final.
Novak Djokovic is chasing a record-extending eighth Australian Open title, while Dominic Thiem will bid to become the first man born in the 1990s to win a major title.
Rafael Nadal will skip the Miami Open that begins later this month in a bid to recover from a back injury in time for the clay court swing
Thiem knocked out by Andujar in French Open first round
Images from Day 6 of the French Open matches played at Roland Garros in Paris on Friday.
Top seed Simona Halep came back from a set down for the third time in the tournament to beat Kazakhstan's rising star Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for the second time on Saturday. In a battle that lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours, the match came down to a tiebreak where two shots that went agonisingly wide for Rybakina eventually decided the title in front of a noisy crowd that constantly chanted Halep's name.
Rafael Nadal has played down the significance of his quarter-final defeat by Austrian Dominic Thiem at the Madrid Open
Novak Djokovic begins his hunt for a fifth Flushing Meadows crown when he meets Moldovan Radu Albot
He will commence his Australian Open campaign against Alexander Bublik in the first round.
Defending champion Simona Halep was knocked out of the French Open 6-2, 6-4 by 17-year-old American Amanda Anisimova in a quarter-final shock.
Germany's Alexander Zverev won the battle of the young guns against Denis Shapovalov on Saturday to set up a Madrid Open final against Austria's Dominic Thiem.
Claycourt king Rafael Nadal marched into his 10th French Open final after demolishing rising Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, 6-0, while third seed Stan Wawrinka edged past Andy Murray 6-7, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, 6-1.
Images from Sunday's action at the Australian Open.
Move over Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi, because there's a new power couple in the world of tennis -- Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa.
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