Rafael Nadal pulls out of Australian Open, Marin Cilic into semi-final

NOVAK Djokovic, gone. Grigor Dimitrov, gone. Now Rafael Nadal, in a dramatic late twist with the Spaniard retiring injured early in the fifth set as Marin Cilic progressed to the semi-finals.

The injury was cleary too much for Nadal. AFP Photo / William West

THEY say bad things come in threes.

Novak Djokovic, gone. Grigor Dimitrov, gone. Now Rafael Nadal.

But this one had the most dramatic of late twists, with Nadal retiring injured early in the fifth set.

Three Rod Laver Arena matches in a row have seen three of the game’s big guns dumped from this topsy turvy Australian Open.

And now 2014 US Open champ Marin Cilic stands on the brink of making a second grand slam final in three attempts, after eclipsing Nadal 3-6 6-3 6-7 6-2 2-0 (ret.) in a near four-hour epic.

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Nadal appeared in control early on. (Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

With Nadal under an injury cloud coming into the tournament after pulling the pin early on his 2017 season to recuperate his troublesome right knee, the world No. 1 ended the night with fresh fitness concerns.

Down 1-4 in the fourth set, Nadal called a time-out to receive treatment on a right leg injury — an apparent quad or hip flexor strain.

He battled gamely for another five games before he shook umpire Eva Asderaki’s hand after falling a break down in the decider.

But please, let this take nothing away from Cilic, who quite possibly would have won this match even against a fully fit Nadal.

Cilic bludgeoned his way to the last four on the back of a staggering 83 winners.

To contrast, Nadal hit just 39.

It was a tough night for Nadal.

“Unbelievable performance form both of us,” Cilic said.

“It was really unfortunate for Rafa. He’s an unbelievable competitor and always gives his best, so it’s very unfortunate for him to finish this way.

“I tried to keep my intensity up ... it was absolutely important to continue with my own game, not be looking across the other side of the court.”

In what is one of the most unlikely Open semi-finals you are ever likely to find, Cilic will start a warm favourite against Open surprise packet Kyle Edmund on Thursday night.

Cilic defeated Edmund in straight sets in their only ever meeting, in Shanghai last year.

While bad things come in threes, maybe it’s also true that good things come in threes.

Because for the third night running centre court played host to a classic.

There was Dimitrov v Nick Kyrgios, Chung Hyeon v Djokovic and now this.

Tuesday night was a brutal slugfest.

And if Cilic needed any reminding of how tough Nadal was going to be to pass then he got it from his opening service game when Nadal stood at least five meters behind the baseline in his return stance.

Marin Cilic will face Kyle Edmund.

If Nadal stood any further back he’d have been on Court 6, but he occupied that deep position for much of the night.

For the first hour or so of this gripping contest Nadal appeared in control, until a controversial spark lit a fire under Cilic’s charge.

Down 15-40 at 2-2 in the second set, Cilic was given a time violation warning by Asderaki.

He subsequently double faulted — handing Nadal the break — and was ropeable at the change of ends, questioning why the notoriously tardy Nadal had also not been warned.

But with Cilic taking the next four games, levelling the match at a set apiece, it was just the tonic to turn the clash on its head.