- Dominic Thiem has yet to get the better of Rafael Nadal at the French Open, having lost in the last two finals, but here at the Australian Open, there is no past history to weigh him down.
MELBOURNE • Dominic Thiem has yet to get the better of Rafael Nadal at the French Open, having lost in the last two finals, but here at the Australian Open, there is no past history to weigh him down.
Yesterday, the pair clashed for the 14th time, but it was just their second meeting on a hard court.
Going into the last-eight encounter at Melbourne Park, Nadal had a career win-loss record of 9-4 over Thiem, though all but one of his ATP Tour victories had come on clay.
The Austrian world No. 5 showed he had learnt from his bitter five-set defeat by the top-ranked Spaniard in the quarter-finals of the 2018 US Open by overcoming those mental demons that have so far held him back from clinching a maiden Grand Slam title.
After a gruelling 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) win, his first in six attempts against Nadal at a Major championship, Thiem claimed that fortune finally favoured him.
The 26-year-old, who will head into tomorrow’s clash against Germany’s Alexander Zverev for a spot in the final, said: “The net cord was really on my side.
“I really feel I was lucky in the right situation. It’s necessary because he’s one of the greatest of all time, biggest legend the sport ever had. So you need some luck to beat him.”
The Australian Open remains Nadal’s least successful Slam, having won just once in 2009, and after meeting his match in fellow baseliner Thiem, the world No. 1 conceded he had “lost against a great opponent”.
On missing out on the chance to equal Roger Federer’s record of 20 singles Slam titles, he said: Of course, I am sad. I lost an opportunity to be in the semi-finals of another Grand Slam, but he deserved it, too. Well done for him.”
Asked if there was anything he would have done differently, Nadal replied: “Yes, win any tiebreak.
“But that’s how it works. Sometimes, things are not going the way that you would like. But he played with the right determination. He was putting one more ball in all the time in a difficult position for me. He’s playing with a lot of energy, aggressive, determination.”
In the women’s draw, Garbine Muguruza stormed back into the big time with an emphatic 7-5, 6-3 win over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach her first Australian Open semi-final.
The two-time Major champion will meet former finalist Simona Halep today for a place in the showpiece event.
Unseeded at a Slam for the first time since 2014, Muguruza’s last trip to the semi-finals of a Major was at the 2018 French Open. Hardly touted as a pre-tournament contender, her campaign was almost scuppered by a viral illness.
But the Spaniard now finds herself well-placed to make off with a third singles Slam title following her triumphs at Wimbledon in 2017 and Roland Garros the year before.
“I came (here) not feeling great. I wasn’t really thinking, ‘How far will I go’?” she told reporters. “I had enough already thinking, ‘How will I go practise today?’
“I took (one) day at a time… Each day I was gaining a better feeling – instead of getting frustrated thinking (about) the future.”
Of her clash with Halep – she owns the head-to-head edge 3-2, with all her wins coming on hard courts – Muguruza added: “It’s a tough match.
“I’m excited to play another battle against her.”
