Dominic Thiem: To really break barrier one player has to win Grand Slam

World No. 5 Dominic Thiem insists there is still plenty of work to do after stunning top-seeded Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open quarterfinal. 

Thiem, seeded at No. 5, made his maiden Australian Open semifinal after a 7-6 (3) 7-6 (4) 4-6 7-6 (6) win over 19-time Grand Slam champion Nadal. 

Next up for Thiem will be world No. 7 Alexander Zverev, who beat three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka to reach the semifinal.

Thiem and Zverev have been at the top of the game for the past several seasons but neither of them has won a Grand Slam title yet. 

"To really break a barrier one player has to win a Grand Slam. One of us is going to be in the finals but still it's a long way to go. In the other semifinal there will be two players (Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer) from the Big Three group... So I think we are still pretty long way from breaking this kind of barrier," Thiem told reporters after beating Nadal.  

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2GwtcKR