By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday January 29, 2020
Dominic Thiem notched his first victory over Rafael Nadal at a Grand Slam to book a spot in the Australian Open semis.
Photo Source: Mark Peterson/ Corleve
Rafael Nadal has managed to keep Dominic Thiem at bay at the Grand Slams over the years, never missing a chance to deal the Austrian a defeat in their five previous meetings at the majors, but on Wednesday in Melbourne the Austrian smashed through the barrier and posted an eye-opening victory over his longtime oppressor.
Thiem hit all the high notes, and regularly crushed the tennis ball with jaw-dropping authority, to hand Nadal a 7-6(3) 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(6) loss and book his spot in the Australian Open semifinals for the first time.
"Today I had the feeling that I was lucky in the right situations, the letcord was really on my side," said Thiem. "It's necessary because he's obviously one of the greatest of all time, one of the biggest legends this sport has ever had so you need some luck to beat him."
It was a close contest throughout, but unlike their previous five meetings at the majors, it was Thiem who took hold of the pivot points and confidently commanded the court when it mattered most over the course of the contest.
Thiem stepped on the gas from the get go and immediately started applying scoreboard pressure on Nadal as he won 12 of his first 13 points on serve and earned the first break point of the match with Nadal serving at 2-3.
But Nadal would save that break point and take advantage of one of Thiem’s few loose games on the match to break for 5-3 in the opening set.
Nadal had a set point at 5-4 40-30 but faltered when Thiem laid a backhand return at his feet, forcing Nadal to miss with the backhand. Six points later Thiem had the set leveled and he would soon power through the opening set tiebreaker, winning seven of the final eight points to take the first set.
The second set was just as tense, just as hard-fought and just as entertaining. And it followed a similar script with Nadal grabbing the early break and then giving it back with an uncharacteristically poor game that ended with a flimsy double-fault. Even stranger than the double-fault was Nadal’s inability to wipe his mind clean of frustration after he was handed a time violation by umpire Aurélie Tourte after a grueling rally that left both players fatigued.
When it was issued Nadal walked to the umpires chair and admonished Tourte, saying “You don’t like good tennis,” as he nodded disapprovingly.
Nadal went and chatted with the supervisor after he was broken for 4-4 in the set, but his energies might have been better spent trying to solve the physical phenom across the net from him.
Thiem opened a 4-0 lead in the tiebreaker, only to see it vanish at 4-4, before he grabbed the final three points in dramatic fashion to secure the two sets to love lead.
Nadal had lost his last 14 matches when falling behind two sets to love but he didn’t drop the beat in the third set. After nine consecutive holds, Nadal slipped into overdrive and broke for the set, claiming it 6-4.
The Spaniard’s emphatic celebration at the baseline demonstrated the determination of the great champion and he radiated positivity as the fourth set began, with just over three hours elapsed.
Nadal earned three break points with Thiem serving at 1-0 but the Austrian held his ground, saving all three and then breaking for 2-1.
Thiem would wobble at the finish as he tossed in a terrible game while serving for the match to allow Nadal to break him for 5-5. But he would recover and push through by taking his third tiebreaker of the night.
"It came to 5-4, special situation for me, serving for the match against Rafa for my first semifinal here at the Australian Open, such a really mentally tough situation--I couldn't handle it but I turned it around again in the tiebreaker."
The tiebreaker was full of tension as well. Thiem had two match points from 6-4 but missed them both--by a whisker.
After he ripped a backhand winner to lead 7-6 (which clipped the netcord as it flew past Nadal and into the open court), he finally converted his third when Nadal dropped a forehand into the net.
The Austrian notches his fourth win over a reigning World No.1 and achieves the feat for the second time in the last four majors.
More to follow...