Dominic Thiem ended six years of Grand Slam frustration against Rafael Nadal with a seismic 7-6(3) 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(6) upset that booked his maiden Australian Open semifinal and rocked the old guard of men's tennis.
Austria's Dominic Thiem. Photo: Photosport/Icon Sportswire
Alexander Zverev beat Stan Wawrinka in the other men's quarterfinal, while in the women's draw Garbine Muguruza beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Simona Halep beat Anett Kontaveit.
After pulling off a nerve-shredding win that quashed doubts about his prowess on hardcourts, 26-year-old Thiem will face Zverev for a place in the final.
The fifth-seeded Austrian will head into Friday's clash against the young German brimming with confidence, having ended top seed Nadal's bid for a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title, despite a few wobbles on the way to victory.
Turning the tables on the man who had beaten him in all five of their previous Grand Slam meetings, including the last two French Open finals, Thiem became only the second Austrian to reach the last four at Melbourne Park, following Thomas Muster's runs in 1989 and 1997.
In a grandstand finish with the terraces roaring, Nadal saved two match points in the decisive tiebreak but surrendered on the third when he slammed a forehand into the net.
"Of course, I am sad. I lost an opportunity to be in the semi-finals of another Grand Slam," said Nadal, who was also bidding to draw level with Roger Federer's haul of 20 majors.
"But I lost against a great opponent. And he deserves it, too. Well done for him."
THIEM's Time To !
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 29, 2020
After 4 hours and 10 minutes, @ThiemDomi knocks out world No.1 Rafael Nadal, 7-6(3) 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(6) to advance to the #AusOpen semifinals for the first time.#AO2020 pic.twitter.com/lWuZXBzNmt
Zverev reached his first Grand Slam semifinal with a 1-6 6-3 6-4 6-2 win over 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka.
The seventh seed also became the first German man to make the last four at a major since Tommy Haas in 2009.
In the women's draw, Wimbledon champion Simona Halep needed just 53 minutes to thrash Estonian Anett Kontaveit 6-1 6-1.
The Romanian set up a semifinal meeting with two-time Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza, who beat Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5 6-3.
Halep was asked what she ate in the morning to produce a near-flawless display.
"Well, I played really well? Same thing. I have two weeks eating the same thing: ham and cheese," Halep said. "Perfection doesn't exist, but I'm very happy with the way I played."
Meanwhile Roger Federer was fined $5,000 for using an audible obscenity during his Australian Open quarterfinal victory over American Tennys Sandgren.
The Swiss was handed a code violation for swearing in the third set of Tuesday's match after the lineswoman reported Federer to Serbian chair umpire Marijana Veljovic.
Federer clarified in his post-match news conference that he had sworn in a "a mix" of languages and said he was frustrated by the way he received the on-court warning.
- Reuters
