Paris – Dominic Thiem demolished defending champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets in a stunning French Open upset on Wednesday, setting up a semi-final duel against nine-time champion Rafael Nadal.
Sixth seed Thiem sent the world number two crashing to his earliest loss in Paris in seven years. The Austrian won 7-6, (7/5), 6-3, 6-0, needing two hours and 17 minutes to pick up the win.
Dominic Thiem is the only player to beat Nadal on clay this season, but the Austrian's shock win at the Rome Masters was swiftly followed by a 6-1, 6-0 humiliation against Djokovic.
Before Wednesday's win Djokovic had dropped just one set in five meetings with Thiem, and brushed aside the 23-year-old with ease in last year's Roland Garros semi-finals.
Nadal earlier reached a 10th Roland Garros semi-final when Spanish compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta retired in the second set through injury.
Nadal was leading 6-2, 2-0 when Carreno Busta retired after suffering abdominal injury. Nadal broke Carreno Busta four times during the 51 minutes of play
The other semi-final will also be decided on Wednesday, when world number one Andy Murray faces Kei Nishikori and 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka takes on Marin Cilic.
. @ThiemDomi downs defending champion Djokovic to reach the #RG17 SFs!
Dominic Thiem fait tomber le champion en titre ! pic.twitter.com/U9iKJWbT7k
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 7, 2017