Melbourne, Jan 29 (Xinhua) It was a case of the new conquering the old at the Australian Open men's quarterfinals on Wednesday, with Dominic Thiem besting legend, Rafael Nadal, and 22-year-old, Alexander Zverev toppling former title holder, Stanislas Wawrinka.
It took Thiem over four hours to finish Nadal, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), while Germany's Zverev slowly eroded Wawrinka for a final score of, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
At 26-years-old, Thiem clocked his first ever win against Nadal at a Grand Slam, to reach his first ever semifinal -- playing an exceptional game, but explaining that it didn't hurt to have luck on his side as well.