Australian Open: Dominic Thiem knocks out master blaster Rafael Nadal

Dominic Thiem overpowered Rafael Nadal at his own game in a quarter-final stunner.

Austrian star Dominic Thiem during his thrilling quarter-final win over Rafael Nadal, inset, at the Australian Open on Wednesday night. Picture: Michael Klein

Austrian star Dominic Thiem overpowered Rafael Nadal at his own game in Melbourne on Wednesday night when defeating the Spanish superstar in an Australian Open quarter-final stunner.

The powerful baseliner will play Alexander Zverev on Friday night for a spot in the Australian Open final after toppling the 19-time major champion 7-6 (3) 7-6 (4) 4-6 7-6 (6) in a 4hr 10min test of nerves.

Locked and loaded 🔒

🇦🇹 [5] @ThiemDomi v [7] @AlexZverev 🇩🇪
🇨🇭 [3] @rogerfederer v [2] @DjokerNole 🇷🇸#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/phXkMfVenz

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 29, 2020

Having fallen to the world No 1 in the past two French Open finals, Thiem was well aware of just how physically and mentally tough a challenge Nadal presents rivals.

But in a remarkable performance of strength and endurance, he rose to that challenge and beyond to deny the world No 1 with a sustained barrage of blistering groundstrokes.

Thiem went stroke for stroke with the 2009 Australian Open champion, backing himself to beat the Mallorcan master blaster in what proved a superb showdown.

There was a moment of drama as he tried to serve out the match at 5-4, with Thiem losing his composure on the brink of victory.

#AO2020 mutual respect moments 🤜🤛@RafaelNadal x @ThiemDomi#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/1ZVXvmkvoD

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 29, 2020

But he was able to regain his focus and form to force the tie-breaker, where he again had the measure of the greatest clay courter in history.

The Austrian saw another two match points go begging in the tie-breaker, the first squandered when he netted a high forehand when trying to close out victory.

A netcord — and the tape certainly favoured the Austrian throughout — helped him to snap a backhand passing shot to bring up a third match point and on this occasion Nadal netted the forehand.

The 26-year-old had earlier recovered from a break down in the opening two sets to seize them in tiebreakers, dropped his level slightly through the third set and then rallied in the fourth.

His ability to rebound in the opening two sets ultimately proved crucial as Thiem secured his first victory over the left-hander in a major and his fifth from 14 clashes overall.

The challenge for the 26-year-old will be to recover sufficiently for the test against Zverev, who is through to the semi-finals of a major for the first time.

Zverev said he had only one plan for Wednesday night after defeating 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka 1-6 6-3 6-4 6-2.

"I can't wait to be back on Friday."@ThiemDomi looks ahead to his semifinal battle with @AlexZverev on Day 12 👀#AO2020 pic.twitter.com/7lHeeGpx12

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 29, 2020

That was to sit on the couch and watch Nadal and Thiem slug it out at a high intensity.

“I’ll have a cold glass of coke sitting in my hotel room with AC, watching them hopefully play for six hours. Hopefully they will get as tired as they can,” he said.

An arduous first set that lasted 67 minutes was exactly what the German ordered as the two supreme baselines slugged it out.

When the second lasted 69 minutes, Zverev surely giggled. And he must have been beside himself when Nadal seized the third with the match just shy of three hours long.

Remarkably given Nadal’s reputation as an endurance king, the longer a rally went on Rod Laver Arena, the more likely it was that the fifth seed would prove successful.

The departing top seed had the better of rallies that lasted four shots or fewer.

But when it came to arduous tests lasting longer than nine shots, the world No 5 more than matched his rival, winning 24 of the 36 played. This is significant in a match where Thiem won only five more points overall, or 148 of the 291 played.

Nadal complained of feeling like he was “in a shower” on court, so much was he sweating.

He also became agitated while serving with a break at 3-2 in the second set when issued with a time violation by umpire Aurelie Tourte after a 19-shot rally.

“It is really amazing (that) after this point, that you can turn the (clock) straight (on). You don’t like good tennis,” Nadal said.

Despite the frustrations and the stunning form of his rival, Nadal’s desire for victory never dimmed and he continued to ask the younger man questions.

Nadal denied he was agitated at different stages of the match, saying he was simply trying to think of a solution that would enable him to counter Thiem.

But the Spaniard was gracious in his praise of Thiem after what he said was a “very good match”.

“I think he’s playing great. He’s playing with a lot of energy, aggressive, determination. So well done for him,” he said.

“I honestly didn’t play a bad match. My attitude was great, I think, during the whole match. (I had) good, positive, fighting spirit all the time, giving me more chances. (I) don’t give up in not one moment during the whole match. I give myself an opportunity until the last point. “(I’m) happy for that because my level of concentration and tennis was better, I think even the concentration, than the tennis. But the tennis was not bad at all.

“It was difficult to play against him. He’s younger. He’s very quick. With these heavy balls, it’s difficult to produce … winners. He has a lot of power, so he’s able to produce these amazing shots from a very difficult position.

“Of course, I am sad. I lost an opportunity to be in the semi-finals of another grand slam. But I lost against a great opponent. And he deserves it, too. Well done for him.”