MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Dominic Thiem stopped Rafael Nadal’s quest for his 20th Grand Slam singles title Wednesday, taking a 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) in a quarterfinal match that stretched past four hours.
Nadal needed a break late in the fourth set, trailing 5-4 after failing to hold in his second service game of the set. Thiem faltered badly, with a couple of mishit shots and a double fault handing the game and the momentum to the top-ranked player in the world, who has won 19 majors but only one Australian Open.
A rattled Thiem failed to break back, but he regained his composure to hold his own serve and force the third tiebreaker of the match, both of which he had won.