Rafael Nadal to US Open semifinals after 5-set thriller vs. Dominic Thiem

Top seed Rafael Nadal is into the semifinals of the US Open after beating Dominic Thiem, the ninth seed, in a five-set thriller on Tuesday evening, 0-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(5). Nadal, the favorite going into the US Open, will face the third-seeded Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals.

Thiem was red-hot to start, breaking Nadal in the very first game of the match, and he didn’t slow down, at least through a first set where he blanked the “King of Clay”, 6-0. But Nadal narrowed the gap quickly in the second set, and took over the match, though it was always close.

At 2-2 on the fifth, Nadal had a double break attempt on Thiem’s serve, but Thiem saved both to get it to deuce, and then held.

They exchanged holds until Thiem was serving at 5-5, and Nadal had a triple break point attempt. Thiem hit an ace and then fought off the next two break attempts to get to deuce.

He went on to hold from there, putting the pressure back on Nadal’s serve to stay in the match. Nadal held at love, sending it to a tiebreak. It was a close, intense tiebreak, one that was ultimately won by Nadal, 7-5.

Thiem consistently pushed Nadal to the edge on his service games, but lost out on just enough points to find himself on the losing end of their 11th match together.

Tuesday’s match was the first time they’ve ever faced off professionally on a surface other than clay. Nadal led the series, 7-3, going into the match, which is significant for a number of reasons. The biggest is that beating Nadal on clay is simply the toughest accomplishment in tennis, and Thiem, also a clay court specialist, did extremely well to earn three wins off of him, including in Madrid earlier this year.

His match against Nadal on Tuesday was impressive, especially the opening set, but Nadal once again proved to be too much in the long run.

Nadal’s path to the quarterfinal matchup has been a good one, with wins over David Ferrer, Vasek Pospisil, No. 27 Karen Khachanov, and Nikoloz Basilashvili. Thiem’s path was even more impressive, with wins over Mirza Basic, Steve Johnson, Taylor Fritz, and fifth seed Kevin Anderson in the Round of 16.

It only gets tougher from here though, as Nadal has to face the third-seeded del Potro in the semifinals. Del Potro bested No. 11 John Isner in his quarterfinal matchup. The men’s semifinals are scheduled for Friday. The other semifinal has yet to be decided, with Wednesday to feature Marin Cilic vs. Kei Nishikori followed by Novak Djokovic vs. John Millman.