Thiem knocks off Nadal to reach semis at Australian Open
Austria’s Dominic Thiem reached the semifinals of the Australian Open with a hard-fought quarter-final upset of Spain’s Rafael Nadal, beating the world’s top-ranked player 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (6) on Wednesday in Melbourne.
The win marked Thiem’s first hard-court win over Nadal in a Grand Slam and made him just the second Austrian player to reach the last four in Melbourne, following in the footsteps of twotime semifinalist Thomas Muster. Thiem fell short against Nadal in the finals at Roland Garros in 2018 and 2019.
“All the match was on a very good level. We were both in good form,” Thiem said following the win. “We already had this epic match (at the U.S. Open) in New York two years ago and (Wednesday) I had a feeling I was lucky, in the right situations. He’s one of the greatest of all time, so you do sometimes need luck to beat him.”
Thiem won 78 per cent of his first-serve points and recorded 65 winners, eliminating the No. 1 seed after four hours and 10 minutes.
The fifth-seeded Thiem will face Germany’s Alexander Zverev for a place in the final. The 26-year-old Austrian leads the seventh-seeded Zverev 6-2 in their ATP Head2head series, which most recently includes a semifinal win at last year’s Nitto ATP Finals.
Zverev defeated 2014 champion and No. 15 seed Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to earn his first appearance in a major championship semifinal.
“After that first set, I was getting ready to talk to the press about why I lost in straight sets,” the 22-yearold Zverev said. “I turned it around and my energy picked up a bit. I wasn’t used to his ball ... I needed a set to get used it. Thank God it worked out.”
Nadal, the 2009 champion, was aiming to make his seventh Australian Open semifinal appearance, which would have moved him to within two wins of Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 Grand Slam titles. However, Nadal’s loss means World No. 2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia can regain the top ranking with a record-extending eighth win in Melbourne on Sunday.
Nadal was philosophical about the loss, feeling he was beaten by a better opponent on the night.
“I think he played great matches against me in the past, too,” Nadal, who edged Thiem in the last two French Open finals, told reporters.
“He played great quality tennis. I think we like each other in terms of character. I like his attitude. Probably
he likes mine, too.
“We have things that we can compare each other in some way.
“I think he’s playing well. I wish him all the very best for the rest of the tournament.”