Rafa Nadal's wait to win a 20th Grand Slam title will stretch into the summer after he was knocked out of the Australian Open by Dominic Thiem at the quarter-final stage.
The world number one and top seed was beaten 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 in Melbourne, with the Austrian avenging his loss to Nadal in the last two French Open deciders.
Thiem will play maiden Grand Slam semi-finalist Alexander Zverev, after the German youngster beat Stan Wawrinka.
"It has been a very good match. He has been playing very well. Playing very aggressive, great shots. Even from difficult positions, he was able to produce amazing shots," Nadal admitted in his post-match press conference.
"I honestly didn't play a bad match. My attitude was great. Good, positive, fighting spirit all the time. I didn't give up in one moment during the whole match. I gave myself an opportunity until the last point.
"Of course I am sad. I lost an opportunity to be in the semi-finals of another grand slam. But I lost against a great opponent."
Thiem admitted he felt nervous while approaching the finishing line:
"A special situation for me, serving for the match against Rafa. Such a really mentally tough situation. I couldn't handle it but I turned it round in the tie-breaker.
"I'm full of adrenaline, full of happy moments."
