Nadal won 40 percent of his first serves in the opener as he struggled with the high humidity on Arthur Ashe Stadium court, with Thiem becoming the first player to ‘bagel’ the Spaniard at Flushing Meadows since Andy Roddick 14 years ago.
Browsing: Dominic Thiem
The 32-year-old world number one now has 17 Grand Slam titles, just three behind great rival Roger Federer
Claycourt specialist Thiem’s relentless accuracy from the baseline proved too much for second seed Zverev who looked jaded after a gruelling path to his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
Zverev has long been marked out as a future star of the men’s game and his 6-4, 6-4 victory over Thiem suggests the German can be a major threat at the French Open later this month.
The record was set in 1984
He is chasing a seventh Australian Open title and started off well with a reassuring 6-1, 6-4 win at the Kooyong Classic on January 10.
Coming off the back of a superhuman effort to beat Dominic Thiem over five sets, Del Potro was the clear underdog coming into the match
The 23-year-old Austrian lost 3-6 4-6 0-6 for Nadal to advance into Sunday’s final and move towards a record-breaking 10th title.
The sixth seed is fast becoming one of the best players on the ATP Tour, but he was superb in surging to a 7-6 6-3 6-0 victory over the former world number one
The Spaniard is now 15-0 on his favoured surface this year having also picked up his 10th titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona in recent weeks