Davis Cup quarterfinals: Spain suffers 1-2 loss against Netherlands as Nadal retires
Although Nadal fought hard against the Dutch in the opening set, the 22-time Grand Slam champion was unable to stop the 29-year-old from winning the first set
In a recent development, Dominic Thiem pulled off a massive turnaround at the Australian Open on Wednesday as he defeated World number 1 Rafael Nadal 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(6) at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne.
This was the Austrian star’s first Grand Slam win against the 2009 Champion in as many as six attempts to reach his first semi-final at the opening slam of the year. Thiem was simply outstanding as he won 78 per cent of first-serve points (65/83) and produced 65 winners against Nadal in a match that lasted for over four hours.
“All the match was on a very good level. We were both in good form,” Thiem told former World number 1 Jim Courier in an on-court interview as quoted by ATP in a media release.
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“We already had this epic match [at the US Open] in New York two years ago and today I had a feeling I was lucky in the right situations. The net cord was on my side. He is one of the greatest of all time, so you do sometimes need luck to beat him,” he added.
Notably, Thiem who had been on the losing side against Nadal in the past couple of French Open finals, has now claimed one win against the Spaniard in each of the ATP Tour season since 2016.
It is worth highlighting that each of Thiem’s previous four wins against Nadal had all come on clay courts. The win has also improved Thiem’s already impressive record against the Big three- Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. Thiem has now won 7 of his last 10 matches against them.
Thiem will now be up against Alexander Zverev in the semifinals. Thiem currently leads Zverev 5-2 as far as the ATP Head to Head stats are concerned and would be hopeful of adding yet another win to his name against his German opponent.
“It will be the first Grand Slam semi-final where I’m the older player,” said the 26-year-old.
“We’re great friends and I’m really happy that he’s in his first semi-final. We know how to play each other in a Grand Slam. The atmosphere will be so nice. It’s such a nice stadium and I’m looking forward to Friday,” he added.
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