“You don’t like the good tennis,” he said to her twice, before returning to the baseline. Thiem won in a thrilling four sets and will face Alexander Zverev in one semifinal. That made his 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (6) victory over Nadal all the more meaningful.“If you want to have a chance against him, one of the all-time greats, everything needs to work in your game,” said Thiem, the No. It’s necessary as he’s one of the greatest of all times, one of the biggest legends in this sport, so you need a little luck to beat him’. “Couldn’t handle it.”.Then, on his first match point, at 6-4 in the last tiebreaker, Thiem drove a leaping forehand into the net, then covered his face with his left hand.His second match point came and went with a lob that landed long.But Thiem did not fold there, getting a third opportunity to close it with a cross-court backhand that glanced off the tape — one of a handful of favorable net cords for him.When Nadal missed one last forehand, Thiem looked to the sky and spread his arms wide.“He played with the right determination,” Nadal said. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are in the other. Well done for him.”.Tennis Australia acknowledges that the AO is held on Aboriginal Land and we extend our respects to the Traditional Owners, their ancestors and Elders past, present and emerging and to all First Nations People.Rafael Nadal vs. Dominic Thiem - Match Highlights (QF) | Australian Open 2020,‘I was lucky in the right situations. No active men’s player under age 31 has won a Grand Slam singles title.“I think we are still a pretty long way from overtaking or breaking this kind of barrier,” Thiem said.So it must seem at this stage, but the youngsters are undeniably coming. But I lost against a great opponent.
And he deserve it, too.

A booming forehand, his 20th winner of an exquisite set, sent Thiem ahead.The 2009 champion responded by breaking to love at 2-2 in the second set. 9 seed Dominic Thiem for 4 … Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are in the other.MELBOURNE, Australia — There will be a new-generation men’s semifinal at the Australian Open when Dominic Thiem faces Alexander Zverev for a chance to take on one of the sport’s Big Three for a title.Attacking and defending brilliantly, Thiem, 26, defeated No.
The defining statistic: Thiem won exactly twice as many points that featured nine or more shots, 24-12.Thiem managed to hang in there with Nadal on physical baseline exchanges, trading groundstroke for groundstroke and picking the proper spots to move forward.Or to describe it another way: Thiem was out-Nadal-ing Nadal, the ultimate grinder who never met a point that was too long or too grueling. ".Thiem reached his fifth major semifinal, but his first somewhere other than at the French Open, the event that is Nadal's domain.Of more significance: The outcome ended Nadal's career-best streak of making at least the semifinals at seven consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, a span during which he earned three trophies to narrow his gap with Federer. Thiem vs. Nadal = 2 wins / 1 loss Thiem vs. Djokovic = 2 wins / 2 losses Total = 7 wins / 3 losses.

I made the people of Australia a promise, and I will keep that promise if it happens.”.The odds are still against it. Please enable Cookies and reload the page.This process is automatic. It was such a mentally tough situation, I couldn’t handle it!“It was a little ‘demons in the head’ like Roger (Federer) said,” added the 26-year-old, facing the daunting task of serving out the match.“Rafa made it so tough, he got it to five-all and the match starts at zero again.“But I managed to turn it around again … that’s tennis, you have to deal with these big situations and I’m very happy.”.It boiled down to a third tiebreak and Thiem rocketed 5-2 in front with a spectacular stop volley, before winning a point after having tumbled to the ground.The top seed clawed back the deficit, but after a backhand pass clipped the net tape, it was Thiem’s time.Nadal bemoaned not being clinical enough, but was quick to admit his opponent was superior on the night.“I think he's playing great. My attitude was great, I think, during the whole match. The world No.5 accumulated eight points in a row to boost three straight games.Nadal erased set point and earned a second tiebreak. Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, two of the greats, were both done winning Grand Slam singles titles by 25.But the norms have changed with the prolonged dominance of the Big Three — Federer, Djokovic and Nadal — who have proved, collectively, that turning 30 is no obstacle to piling up major titles and taking turns at No.

Nadal was so spent, though, that he was unable to finish his next match against Juan Martín del Potro.Wednesday’s tussle hinged on Thiem’s ability to recover from adversity and Nadal’s repeated failure to capitalize on openings and opportunities that he normally would have pounced upon.Nadal, who has 19 Grand Slam singles titles, was aiming to tie Federer’s men’s record of 20, but that record is safe at least until the French Open now.Nadal lost the first set on Wednesday despite having a set point on his serve at 5-3. "Couldn't handle it. The Dominator is a joke.