Austrian sensation Dominic Thiem on Wednesday stunned World number one Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open, outclassing the Spaniard in a four set thriller, that lasted over four hours.
Thiem, seeded fifth won 7-6 7-6 4-6 7-6(8-6)
The Austrian recorded his first Grand Slam victory against the 2009 champion in six attempts to reach his first semi-final at the opening Grand Slam of the year. Thiem won 78 per cent of first-serve points (65/83) and struck 65 winners to earn his maiden hard-court win against Nadal after four hours and 10 minutes.
Thiem, who has fallen to Nadal in the past two Roland Garros finals, has now claimed one victory against the Spaniard in each ATP Tour season since 2016. The Austrian’s previous four wins against Nadal all came on clay.
Thiem becomes only the second Austrian player to reach the last four in Melbourne, following in the footsteps of two-time semi-finalist Thomas Muster. By reaching his fifth Grand Slam semi-final, the World No. 5 moves clear of Muster to take the top spot in the all-time leader board for Grand Slam semi-final appearances by an Austrian player.
Thiem will face Alexander Zverev for a place in the final. The 26-year-old leads Zverev 6-2 in their ATP Head2Head series, which includes a semi-final triumph in their most recent encounter at last year’s Nitto ATP Finals.
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