Dominic Thiem draw a huge upset at the Australian Open on Wednesday by beating world No 1 Rafal Nadal in an epic quarterfinal match. The fifth seed Thiem Nadal recorded a 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 victory over top seed Nadal in a four hours long grueling game to book his maiden semifinal spot in the Australian Open. Thiem will now face Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the semi-final clash on Friday.
Austria’s Thiem, who failed in the previous six encounters against the Spanish genius including two French Open finals, turned the table around this time to end Nadal’s bid to equal Roger Federer’s record of 20 grand slam titles.
With this win, Thiem became only the second Austrian to reach the last four at Melbourne Park, following Thomas Muster’s runs in 1989 and 1997.
“I think all the match was on a very good level, I think we were both on great form. We already had this epic match in New York two years ago. Today I was really feeling I was lucky in the right situations. The net cord was really on my side. He’s one of the biggest legends this sports ever had so you need some luck to beat him”, Thiem said after the match.
Speaking after the loss, Nadal said: “I don’t give up one moment during the match. I gave myself an opportunity until the last moment, so I’m happy for that, because my level of concentration and tennis was better, I think. My tennis was not bad at all – it was difficult to play against him. I’m happy.”
“But I lost against a great opponent. And he deserves it, too. Well done for him”, Nadal further added.
