Top seed Rafael Nadal was denied a place in the Australian Open semi-finals after being rattled by Austria’s Dominic Thiem who went ahead to win the four-set thriller.
Fifth seed Thiem won 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (8-6) at Melbourne Park.
The 26-year-old, beaten by Nadal in the past two French Open finals, missed two match points before taking a third to win in four hours and 10 minutes.
He will now face Germany’s Alexander Zverev in Friday’s last-four match.
It will be a first semi-final in Melbourne for both men and the winner will face either Serbia’s defending champion Novak Djokovic or Swiss third seed Roger Federer in Sunday’s final.
“I was holding my serve great and then it came to 5-4,” Thiem said.
“That was a special situation for me, serving against Rafa for a place in the Australian Open semi-finals for the first time.
“It was a mentally tough situation but I turned it around again in the tie-breaker.”
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