Rafael Nadal vs. Dominic Thiem Quarter-Final Clash 'Didn't Really Deserve A Loser'

Dominic Thiem urged Rafael Nadal to go on and win the 2018 US Open men’s singles title after he came away with the wrong end of the result after their four-hour, 49 minute battle in the quarter-finals on Wednesday early morning — 2:04 a.m EDT to be precise.

The Spaniard came back from losing the first set 6-0 to winning the match in five sets in what was one of the matches of the season. Apart from the first set when Thiem steamrolled Nadal, both players put hardly a step wrong for the rest of the match.

The Austrian, who is one of only two players to beat Nadal this season — the other being Djokovic — was unable to cross the final hurdle after impressing throughout the game. He is now backing the Spaniard, whom he considers a close friend off the court, to go on and win the tournament, despite Novak Djokovic being the bookmakers’ favorite at this stage.

“He’s a great guy. I don't want to lose against anybody,” Thiem said talking about Nadal in the post-match press conference Wednesday morning. “But now I wish him the title the most, that's for sure.”

“I think we almost all the time have great matches. I hope that we have many more in the future with a different end,” he added.

Thiem has no doubt that the match, which is arguably the best the two players have played against each other, will be stuck in his head for a long time. He also acknowledged the high quality of the encounter and admits it did not deserve a loser, a thought Nadal would certainly agree with.

The final score of the match after the near five-hour battle read, 0-6, 4-6, 5-7, 7-6, 6-7. Apart from the first set, the entire match hinged on Nadal winning a few crucial points especially in the final set tie-breaker, when it could have gone either way.

“Yeah, it's going to be stuck in my mind forever. Forever I'm going to remember this match, for sure,” the Austrian added. “But, I mean, it's cruel sometimes tennis, you know, because I think this match didn't really deserve a loser. But there has to be one. And I would say if we skip the first set, was really open match from the beginning to the end."

“The way it ended up in the fifth set tiebreaker, there it's 50/50. He made one more point than me,” Thiem said.

Nadal will now face 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals on Friday for a place in the summit clash from the top-half of the men’s draw. In the bottom-half, Djokovic takes on John Millman, who beat Roger Federer, in the first quarter-finals, while Kei Nishikori faces 2017 Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic in the other last eight clashes.