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World number five Dominic Thiem.
Monkey off the back

Thiem ends Nadal hoodoo in Australian Open thriller

Rafael Nadal felt the heat as Dominic Thiem beat the world number one for the first time at a Grand Slam.

DOMINIC THIEM PRODUCED a magnificent display to avoid more major misery at the hands of Rafael Nadal and reach his first Australian Open semi-final at the expense of the world number one.

Nadal had won all five Grand Slam encounters with Thiem – including two French Open finals – but the Austrian dumped the top seed out with a stunning 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (8-6) victory in four hours and 10 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Thiem had never reached the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park before this week, but will face Alexander Zverev in the last four after coming through a huge, tense battle on a warm Wednesday evening.

Top seed Nadal had disagreements with chair umpire Aurelie Tourte as his hopes of winning a 20th Grand Slam title were ended in a pulsating contest.

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