Nadal rues lost tie-breaks as Dominic Thiem faces Alex Zverev for final spot

After winning an epic match against Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem has good friend Alex Zverev between him and the final.

Austria’s Dominic Thiem celebrates after defeating Spain’s Rafael Nadal in their quarter-final match on Wednesday night. Picture: AP

Rafael Nadal was ruing the forehand at six-all in the fourth-set tie-breaker that had insufficient oomph and depth because of the heaviness of the balls and the tension in his arm and the overexcitement in his veins that left him stranded behind an approach shot that Dominic Thiem swatted away like a mosquito he had received an unexpectedly good look at.

Nadal was full of running, full of adrenaline, full of aggression. Perhaps a couple of points from a fifth set. Perhaps a couple of points from defeat. He landed his first serve. Thiem’s return was short, barely making the service line. Nadal could have pushed Thiem from side to side, corner to corner, body-shot to body-shot, but all-out attack had been paying dividends, and so he hooked one crosscourt and followed it to the net. Risky business.

The approach needed to be deep, or he needed to stay back. Instead it fell shorter than intended, straight into Thiem’s hitting zone, and Nadal was already on his way to the net. The Austrian ripped a crosscourt backhand passing shot, the heavy, fluffed-up balls responding better to his plough-through than Nadal’s overspin.

Nadal’s head went back in anguish. His coach, Carlos Moya, punched the fence. Moments later, Nadal was out on his ear, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (8-6) and Thiem was into Friday night’s unexpectedly youthful semi-final against Germany’s Alex Zverev.

“I need a little bit more of determination in some moments – true,” Nadal said. “It’s true that in some moments conditions have been a little bit heavy. When the ball was new for me, have been ­better, honestly.

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“I had two breaks with new balls. I felt more comfortable with the new balls. The ball became so heavy. He’s younger, he’s very quick. With these heavy balls, it’s difficult to produce sometimes winners. He has a lot of power, so he’s able to produce these amazing shots from a very difficult position. Nothing to say. 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 deserved it, too. Well done for him.”

Thiem was in a defensive retreat when his return fell short at six-all in the final tie-breaker but Nadal’s shorter-than-expected approach gave him time to plant his feet and swing for the fences. He clubbed the backhand passing shot so flat that the heaviness of the balls did not matter.

“If you want to have a chance against him, one of the all-time greats, everything needs to work in your game,” Thiem said. “In some key moments, like six-all in the tie-break in the fourth set, my defensive game really worked. That was a great passing shot. It needs to be there to beat players like him.”

Germany’s Alex Zverev serves to Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka in their quarter-final. Picture: AFP

So it’s Zverev versus Thiem for a place in the Australian Open ­decider. A 22-year-old versus a 26-year-old. Thiem beat Zverev in straight sets at the ATP World Tour Finals in November and leads their head-to-head 6-2.

“We know each other,” Thiem said. “It’s funny because it’s the first time in a grand slam semi-­finals I face a younger guy. We’re good friends. I’m happy for him, that he’s playing so good here. He made his breakthrough at a grand slam. We have no secrets from each other. We played so many times, also on very special occasions already, at the ATP Finals, semis, French Open quarters. It’s a nice rivalry we have. It’s great that we add an Australian Open semi-final. It’s going to be a close match.

“Same if any two top-10 players play the semis of a slam. The deciding moments are very small margins. I’m looking forward to it.”

Zverev said: “I’ve done well at other tournaments. I’ve won Masters Series, World Tour Finals. But the grand slams were always the week where I kind of wanted it too much. I was doing things, in a way, too professional. I was not talking to anybody. I wasn’t going out with friends. I wasn’t having dinner. I was just really, almost too focused. I changed that a little bit this week. I’m doing much more things outside the court. I also was playing that bad at ATP Cup that I didn’t have any expectations. I wasn’t really expecting myself in the semi-finals or quarter-finals. Maybe this is a stepping stone. Maybe this is how it should happen. We’ll see how it goes.”

Nadal was asked in the wee hours of Thursday morning if he would do anything differently. “Yes,” he said. “Win any tie-break. But I honestly didn’t play a bad match. My attitude was great, I think, during the whole match. Good, positive, fighting spirit all the time. I don’t give up in no ­moment during the whole match. I give myself an opportunity until the last point.”

Nadal was told he appeared agitated during the four-hour marathon. He looked bemused and said, “Sorry?” The reporter said: “You seemed quite agitated during the match.” Nadal replied, “Nervous? Tired?” The reporter said, “Irritated.” Nadal replied, “Frustrated?” The reporter said, “Was that with yourself?” Nadal replied, “Honestly, not. I was not frustrated. I don’t see myself with a negative attitude during the whole match. I give myself the opportunity all the time. Even in the tough moments: I lost two tie-breaks. I know how tough is lose two tie-breaks. After 2 hours 30 or 2 hours 40 against a player that you know will physically not have mistakes, you know how tough it is to lose these two tie-breaks.

“Even like this, I keep going. I don’t see myself frustrated. No, no. I just tried my best in every single moment. Sorry, I don’t see this.”

The reporter said: “Maybe it’s not quite the right word, but it’s OK.” Nadal replied: “If you want to find a better word, I am here.”

Zverev said he had broken a barrier by beating three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka to reach his first slam semi-final.

Thiem had a different take. “I don’t really feel like I broke a barrier,” he said. It was just an unbelievable match. Like, epic. To really break a barrier, one young player has to win a slam. One of us is going to be in the finals. But it’s still a very long way to go.”