Dominic Thiem celebrates after winning his quarterfinal match against Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open. (Getty Images)
Australian Open semi-finalist Dominic Thiem was of the opinion that the umpire’s decision to issue World No.1 Rafael Nadal a time violation during their quarter-final encounter was a tough one.
The Austrian number five seed Thiem was talking to the media after his 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 win against the Spaniard when one of the reporters posed a question to him.
He was asked what he felt regarding the time violation warning that was given to Rafael Nadal by chair umpire Aurélie Tourte to which his answer was that such a decision was always tough on the player.
Thiem continued saying that the warning which Nadal received could moreover have been avoided, especially considering the fact that they both had played an exhausting 20-shot rally prior to Nadal’s service.
Nadal was earlier hit with a time violation by the French umpire after the service clock wound all the way down to zero before he had begun his service motion, during the second set of the gruelling contest between the two.
“Rafa received a time violation tonight. Really pushed the boundaries through the length between 20 serves, does that bother you at all tonight?”, the reporter was heard asking Thiem.
“No, but I mean that was there a little bit, I mean it’s tough because it was after a 20-shot rally, where we both covered so much ground. We were both running left-right, left-right, and to receive a time violation after such a point, you can discuss about it,” Thiem replied.
“I mean, of course, it’s rules, but still I mean it’s so demanding and so tough to play points like that. So, yeah, I mean every umpire handles it differently but it was after the rules but it’s also fine if you don’t give one after such a point.”
With the victory over Nadal, Thiem entered his first-ever Australian Open semi-final and will next face German Alexander Zverev.
The German will feature in his maiden Grand Slam semi-final. Zverev had earlier come from behind to register a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win against Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in the other quarter-final match.
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