Rafael Nadal crashes out of Australian Open losing to Dominic Thiem

Rafael Nadal, who was looking to equal Roger Federer’s record of 20 grand slam singles titles, crashes out of Australian Open after a thrilling match against Dominic Thiem.

Top seed faced defeat in the quarter-final as Thiem took away the match by 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6.

It took more than four hours for the fifth seed, Thiem to dug in for a victory to progress to a semi-final against Alexander Zverev.

Dominic Thiem defeats World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, becoming the 2nd Austrian male or female to reach the semifinals at the Australian Open (Thomas Muster, 1989 & 1997).

After winning the quarter-final, Thiem: “I think all the match was on a very good level, I think we were both on great form. We already had this epic match in New York two years ago. Today I was really feeling I was lucky in the right situations. The net cord was really on my side. He’s one of the biggest legends this sport’s ever had so you need some luck to beat him.”

He further went on to described the 5-4 game in the fourth set as “a special situation for me, serving for the match against Rafa. Such a really mentally tough situation. I couldn’t handle it but I turned it round in the tie-breaker. I’m full of adrenaline, full of happy moments.”

While speaking courtside, Nadal said: “I don’t give up one moment during the match. I gave myself an opportunity until the last moment, so I’m happy about that because my level of concentration and tennis was better I think. My tennis was not bad at all – it was difficult to play against him. I’m happy … [I could have had] a little bit more determination in some moments, true.”