US Open 2018: Three talking points from Day 9
Day 9 of the US Open 2018 will go down as one of the most memorable days in the final Major of the season. In a titanic late-night quarter-final tussle, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem kept everybody engrossed, producing a fight for the ages. It was tough to see Thiem go down 6-0, 4-6, 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-7(5) after the tenacity and stamina he displayed in the near five-hour epic.
Elsewhere, Serena Williams, Anastasija Sevastova and Juan Martin del Potro progressed into the semi-finals.
Here’s a look at the three major talking points of the day:
#1 Nadal plays his longest US Open match ever
In a battle between two gladiators, bot of whom refused to give up, World No. 1 and defending champion Rafael Nadal emerged unscathed, but not before he and Dominic Thiem gave the world a delectable display of high-quality tennis. When Thiem finally broke down, with a botched smash on match point, the clock showed 2.04am in New York and the match duration was 4 hours 49 minutes, making it Nadal’s longest ever match at Flushing Meadows.
With the World No. 9 having never met Nadal in any surface other than the red dirt in 10 meetings, it was hard to envisage how the match would unfold. But when the match started, it was clear who wanted to be the aggressor.
The Austrian stormed out of the blocks, delivering a ‘bagel’ on his much-fancied rival, breaking him thrice. Thiem had been on the receiving end of a straight-sets defeat at the French Open final in June and he certainly did not want a repeat of that.
It was a surreal display from the youngster as he converted all three of his break points and conceded none to the 17-time Grand Slam champion. While Nadal took time to process the blow and figure out a way, it was obvious the lion-hearted fighter will not let Thiem walk away so easily.
And so, the fightback began, even though it looked tough even for a player of Nadal’s calibre. The southpaw went down a break in the third and fourth sets as Thiem simply never backed off from making winners off both the wings.
If anybody still had any doubts over the Roland Garros runner-up’s prowess on other surfaces, then he quashed them in style by winning a fourth set tie-break and setting up a deciding fifth set.
Even in the decider, his face was full of determination and a steely resolve. Nadal saw five break points come and go before the ultimate tie-break, where he finally won the longest match so far at the US Open 2018.
It was the second time Nadal played a 4 hours + match, with his third round win over Karen Khachanov ending at 4 hours 23 minutes. But what stood out was the undying spirit of two men, who left it all out on the court.
Thiem finished with a staggering 74 winners against 57 unforced errors to Nadal’s 55 winners against 49 unforced errors. While Thiem clearly made the big winners, Nadal just knew when to raise his level by just a solitary notch, that awarded him the win.
And that is something we have all witnessed countless times in the past, but watching Rafa managing to get out of jail even at the age of 32 still brings a lot of joy to any tennis aficionado.