Nineteen Grand Slam singles titles winner, Rafael Nadal on Wednesday suffered a dramatic exit from the Australian Open after fallen 6-7, (3-7) 6-7, (4-7) 6-4, 6-7 (6-8) to Spanish tennis star, Dominic Thiem.
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Nadal who defeated Australian star, Nick Kyrgois in the round-of-16 on Monday lost to Thiem in one of the quarter-final matches.
The world No 1 had an opportunity to serve for the first set and went a break up in the second, before losing both to the determined 26-year-old Austrian.
Nadal re-grouped and took the third set, but Thiem showcased his fitness and shot-making prowess to capitalise on an early break in the fourth and eventually finished the job in another tie break after four hours and 10 minutes.
This defeat ends Nadal’s quest to equal Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles in Australia and brings his record against Thiem back to 9-5.
The first semi-final will take place on Thursday at the Rod Laver Arena and will be the 50th career-meeting between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.