Thiem conquers Nadal in frightening show of power
Austrian turns on style to book place in last four Zverev awaits after taking weary Wawrinka apart
Rafael Nadal will have to wait until Roland Garros – at the earliest – if he is to equal Roger Federer’s tally of 20 grand slam titles. In a muscular, sinew-straining, bodice-ripper of a quarter-final, Nadal was outwrestled by Austria’s Dominic Thiem – a former red-clay specialist who is finally translating his gifts to hard courts.
The physicality of this match had to be seen to be believed. With his sleeveless tops and bulging biceps, Nadal is known as tennis’s Mr Universe.
But Thiem is also an absolute unit. He has broad shoulders and a deep chest, which allows him to swing the sort of haymakers off his backhand wing that even Stan Wawrinka might admire. Plus, unlike Wawrinka, he also combines this frightening power with lightning speed.
On one critical point in the decisive fourth-set tie-break, Thiem lost his footing as he ghosted along the baseline. He landed on his bottom, bounced back to his feet, and was still able to rush across to reach Nadal’s next forehand with time to spare. When Nadal then sliced a backhand wide, you felt that it had to be Thiem’s night. Nobody else has ever performed a burpee in the middle of a rally with Nadal and gotten away with it.
The generational issue in men’s tennis has become so all-pervading that every unexpected result is increasingly seen through the prism of the Big Three’s battle with the Next Generation. As we build up to tomorrow’s second semi-final, the fact that 26-year-old Thiem will now face 22-year-old Alexander Zverev – who had taken out Wawrinka some seven hours earlier – is bound to be cited as evidence of that mythical event: the changing of the guard.
In reality, though, Thiem has already played four grand slam semi-finals and two finals – all at Roland Garros. The only real change lies in his conversion from a claycourter to a man who can beat the best on hard surfaces as well.
“He’s playing with a lot of energy, aggressive, determination,” said Nadal after his 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 defeat. “I honestly didn’t play a bad match, no? Good, positive, fighting spirit all the time. [But] he’s younger, he’s very quick. He has a lot of power, so he’s able to produce these amazing shots.”
Nadal had nothing but praise for Thiem, and also declined to complain about the umpire, Aurelie Tourte, in the interview room. Yet he had been visibly irritated with Tourte during the match, especially when she gave him a time violation after one explosive 19-shot rally.
“It is really amazing after this point that you put the chrono straight,” he said – meaning that she had switched the shot-clock on too soon after his final backhand had found its mark. “You don’t like the good tennis.” Thiem, who rarely courts controversy, later said that he could see both sides of the argument. “It’s rules. But still, I mean, it’s so demanding and so tough to play points like that.” Thiem’s Australian Open campaign has only had one jarring moment, when he changed his coaching team midway through the first week. Remarkably, though, he seemed not to experience the slightest disruption to his focus.
His recent improvements on hard courts have been triggered by his partnership with former Chilean No1 Nicolas Massu, who persuaded him to move up closer to the baseline when they joined forces last spring. Then, at the start of this year, he tried to bring in the former French Open champion Thomas Muster as an extra voice.
Something must have gone wrong quickly, however, because Thiem confirmed on Saturday that their partnership was over. An annoyed Muster hit back with a spiky interview, saying: “He has his shortcomings – in the technical area, in the physical area, but above all in the mental area.” But this argument looked less convincing after last night’s result.
Admittedly, Thiem did tighten up when he served for the match in the fourth set, committing a rash of unforced errors. But he regrouped superbly.
Earlier, Zverev had overcome an exhausted-looking Wawrinka in four sets – 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 – and thus reached his first grand slam semi-final. “This year I actually came into the Australian Open with absolutely no expectations because I was playing horrible,” said Zverev afterwards.
“[But] if you’re in the semi-finals of a grand slam, of course there’s going to be a spotlight on you. You cannot avoid it that much any more, which is a good thing as well.”
Will he be sticking by his earlier promise to donate the entirety of his prize money – which would be A$4.12million (£2.13 million) – to bushfire relief if he wins the title? “My parents always said that money is something that should cause change in the world and should be put into a good thing, not keep it in a bank account and do nothing with it,” he replied.