Dominic Thiem has avenged his French Open final losses to Rafael Nadal, downing the world No.1 to reach the last four at the Australian Open.

The Austrian fifth seed gave Nadal a taste of his own medicine at Melbourne Park, out-grinding the Spaniard in a 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (8-6) win to end his pursuit of a record-equalling 20th grand slam title.

Thiem, runner-up to Nadal in the past two Roland Garros deciders, will now meet German young gun Alexander Zverev for a place in Sunday’s men’s final.