Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
No. 1 Nadal upset by Thiem in quarters
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA >> Outplayed at his own brand of physical tennis for much of the match, Rafael Nadal finally claimed a set to try to start a comeback against Dominic Thiem.
Nadal marked the moment by hopping in a crouch at the baseline and vigorously pumping his right arm four times.
Soon, though, he was back in trouble. And eventually, his bid to tie Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles by winning the Australian Open was over with a quarterfinal loss Wednesday to Thiem — a younger version of Nadal himself.
Thiem’s 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (6) victory over the top-seeded Nadal lasted 4 hours, 10 minutes because of so many lengthy, electrifying points. One rather memorable one featured Thiem stumbling onto his backside before popping up and keeping the ball in play until Nadal made a mistake.
“He’s playing with a lot of energy ... (and) determination. So well done for him,” Nadal said. “I honestly didn’t play a bad match.”
Thiem reached his fifth major semifinal but first somewhere other than at the French Open, the place that is Nadal’s domain.
Of more significance: The outcome ended Nadal’s career-best streak of making at least the semifinals at seven consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, a span during which he earned three trophies.
“If you want to have a chance against him, one of the all-time greats, everything needs to work in your game,” the fifth-seeded Thiem said.
The last time Nadal didn’t get to the final four at a major? Also at the Australian Open, where he also went out in the quarterfinals two years ago before finishing as the runnerup to Novak Djokovic in 2019.
That was Nadal’s fourth defeat in a semifinal at Melbourne Park since he won his lone title at the place in 2009. He’s won two at Wimbledon, four at the U.S. Open and 12 at the French Open.
Asked what he wished he’d done differently against Thiem, Nadal replied: “Win any tiebreak.”
Thiem had been 0-5 against Nadal at the majors, including losses in the final at Roland Garros each of the past two years.
But this one was different. The defining statistic: Thiem won exactly twice as many points that featured nine or more shots, 24-12.
“Just an unbelievable match. Like, epic,” Thiem said. “A very high level from both of us.”
Thiem managed to hang in there with Nadal on physical baseline exchanges, trading groundstroke for groundstroke and picking the proper spots to move forward.
Or to describe it another way: Thiem was out-Nadal-ing Nadal, the ultimate grinder who never met a point that was too long or too grueling.
“Even from difficult positions,” Nadal said, praising Thiem’s quickness and power, “he was able to produce amazing shots.”
Now Thiem will play No. 7 Alexander Zverev on Friday for a berth in the title match.
Zverev reached his first major semifinal anywhere by overcoming a terrible start Wednesday and putting together a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka.
So instead of Nadal, 33, against Wawrinka, 34, it’ll be Zverev, 22, against Thiem, 26, a couple of members of the new generation trying to collect a breakthrough Slam title.
“I think it’s the first time I am playing a Grand Slam semifinal and I am the older player,” Thiem said with a chuckle.
The first two sets Wednesday were remarkably similar: Nadal would go up by a break, then Thiem would break back and take it in a tiebreaker. The first lasted 67 minutes, the second 69.
Nadal was flustered by a warning from chair umpire Aurelie Tourte for a time violation, citing him for taking more than the allotted 25 seconds before serving. Nadal termed the call “amazing,” complaining that the previous point was comprised of an exhausting 19 shots and so the clock shouldn’t have started when it did (something which is at the chair umpire’s discretion).
“You don’t like the good tennis,” he told Tourte. “You don’t like the good tennis.”
Later, he gave Tourte a sarcastic thumb’s up after she told him he hesitated too long before trying to challenge a line call.
Thiem’s biggest hiccups came as the end was near.
There was the break that ceded the third set, the one celebrated so enthusiastically by Nadal.
There was another break when Thiem served for the victory at 5-4 in the fourth but was undone by a series of jitters-induced mistakes. There were three off-the-mark forehands, with a double-fault mixed in for good measure. “Such a really mentally tough situation,” Thiem said. “Couldn’t handle it.”
Then, on his first match point, at 6-4 in the last tiebreaker, Thiem drove a leaping forehand into the net, then covered his face with his left hand.
His second match point came and went with a lob that landed long.
But Thiem did not fold there, getting a third opportunity to close it with a cross-court backhand that glanced off the tape — one of a handful of favorable net cords for him.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will be playing each other for the 50th time when they meet in the semifinals at Melbourne Park. It’s a blockbuster matchup between two men with a combined 36Grand Slam trophies (Federer has a record 20, Djokovic 16), 13Australian Open championships (Federer has six, Djokovic a record seven) 180singles titles overall (Federer has 103, Djokovic 77) and 10year-end No. 1finishes in the ATP rankings (five apiece). Djokovic leads the head-tohead series 26-23, with five in a row in matches at the majors, including their most recent meeting -- in last year’s Wimbledon final, where he saved two match points to beat Federer in a fifth-set tiebreaker. So why hasn’t Federer managed to win a Grand Slam match against Djokovic in eight years? Djokovic himself said he wasn’t sure. “I know that whenever we get a chance to play each other, we understand it takes a big effort and it’s required from us to come up with the best game in order to win against each other,” Djokovic said. “Roger is Roger. You know that he’s always going to play on such a high level, regardless of the surface. He loves to play these kind of matches, big rivalries, semis, finals of Grand Slams.” One key this time could be how Federer feels after dealing with a painful groin muscle while saving seven match points during a five-set quarterfinal win. While the other men’s semifinal is not until Friday, both women’s semis are Thursday: No. 1Ash Barty vs. No. 14Sofia Kenin, and No. 4 Simona Halep vs. unseeded Garbiñe Muguruza. WEDNESDAY’S SINGLES QUARTERFINALS Women: No. 4Simona Halep beat No. 28Anett Kontaveit 6-1, 6-1; Garbiñe Muguruza beat No. 30Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-3. Men: No. 7Alexander Zverev beat No. 15Stan Wawrinka 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; No. 5 Dominic Thiem beat No. 1Rafael Nadal 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(6). STAT OF THE DAY 53: Minutes Halep needed to eliminate Kontaveit. QUOTE OF THE DAY “He’s like a normal coach that doesn’t like his player too much.” — Zverev, who reached his first Grand Slam semifinal, joking about his father, who is back to being his primary coach.