3 Most thrilling marathon matches of Rafael Nadal in 2018

#3 US Open quarterfinal with Dominic Thiem (0-6 6-4 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5))

Result: Won Duration: 4 hrs 49 mins

Sizzler at Flushing Meadows!

This one is the most recent and no less startling. Nadal was handed a set 6-0 thumping and a harsh reality check ninth seed Austrian looked hungry for revenge (finals at French Open 2018). Thiem fired one thunderous groundstroke after another in a 24-minute blitz. Thiem dished out 13 winners and five aces to hand Nadal’s first ‘Bagel’since 2004, in front of a disbelieving Arthur Ashe stadium. Nadal won just seven points.

What does Nadal do? 32-year-old Mallorcan rallies back in his inimitable panache rediscovering his service game in the second set. He went leveled the score by gobbling two of the three straight breaks at the end of the second set.

Unwilling to relent his high-impact strategy, Thiem continued to throw the kitchen sink at the Muscleman from Spain. Nadal continued to make hay under the floodlights as the unforced errors counted continued to swell for Thiem.

Thiem was both brilliant and temerarious in a tough fourth set. He twice salvaged his service games from 40-15 down but collected just one of seven break points. He took the tie-break 7-4 to force a decider.

Nadal pushed the Austrian close again of his service but he held on to take the fifth set into another tiebreaker. Nadal, 17-time Grand Slam champion clinched the match on his first match point as Thiem overhit an overhead smash.

Thiem won 171 points in the match, five more than Nadal, and hit 74 winners compared to 55 by the Spaniard.

Ever the gentleman, Nadal hurdled the net to embrace the 25-year-old Thiem as the crowd( whoever stayed till 2 am!) venerated them with a deafening ovation.

Thiem had never been in a 4hr+ match his whole career while this was Nadal’s 17th, just at a Grand Slam. A testament to Nadal’s indomitable spirit as much as his intimidating strength and peerless skill.