World No.1 Rafael Nadal knocked out of Australian Open by Dominic Thiem

World No.1 Rafael Nadal has been knocked out of the Australian Open after he lost to Dominic Thiem on Wednesday.

The Austrian star, who is currently world No. 4, stunned the Spaniard to a 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(6) victory at the Rod Laver Arena to pick his first-ever victory against Rafael Nadal.

After the game, Dominic said: ”All the match was on a very good level. We were both in good form,” Thiem told former World No. 1, Jim Courier, in an on-court interview. “We already had this epic match [at the US Open] in New York two years ago and today I had a feeling I was lucky in the right situations. The net cord was on my side. He is one of the greatest of all time, so you do sometimes need luck to beat him.”

“It will be the first Grand Slam semi-final where I’m the older player,” said Thiem. “We’re great friends and I’m really happy that he’s in his first semi-final. We know how to play each other in a Grand Slam. The atmosphere will be so nice. It’s such a nice stadium and I’m looking forward to Friday.”

Dominic Thiem will now face Alexander Zverev in Friday’s second semi-final while Novak Djokovic will tackle Roger Federer on Thursday