(CNN) — If Novak Djokovic entered the French Open with plenty of question marks hanging over his form he departs Paris still searching for answers after suffering his first straight-set grand slam defeat since the 2013 Wimbledon final.
Dominic Thiem crushed Roland Garros’ defending champion 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-0 in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, a result that means the Serb will also tumble out of the top two in the rankings Monday for the first time since early 2011.
That Thiem defeated Djokovic wasn’t a major surprise – the seventh-ranked Austrian trails only Rafael Nadal in match wins in 2017 and is tied for first with the Spaniard in clay-court victories this season.
But the manner in which Djokovic, who teamed up with new coach Andre Agassi last month, crumbled in the third set will be particularly worrying for his fans.
Djokovic’s resounding victory over Thiem in the Rome semifinals last month might have been misleading, since the 23-year-old was coming off an emotional victory over Nadal 24 hours earlier.
Yet no one could have predicted Thiem to prevail in Paris so comfortably and one wonders what Agassi, not around for the match due to prior commitments, made of it all.
Thiem landed in the semifinals for the second straight year – Djokovic downed him 12 months ago – and will no doubt face a tougher test in Nadal, who will be well rested.
Nadal spent only 51 minutes on court, progressing to the semifinals in Paris for a 10th time after fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta retired with an abdominal injury while trailing 6-2 2-0.
Appearing in his first grand slam quarterfinal, the 21st-ranked Carreno Busta – having the best season of his career – took a medical timeout and had to leave Philippe Chatrier court.
He returned with tape to his abdominal area and called it quits after yelling out in pain while hitting a smash.
Nadal – bidding to become the first player in the Open Era to win the same major 10 times – and Carreno Busta hugged before the 14-time grand slam winner applauded his crestfallen friend off court.
Carreno Busta was facing Nadal after an arduous win over 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic in the fourth round with the match lasting nearly four-and-a-half hours.
It was the third high-profile retirement of the event, following a knee injury to Nicolas Almagro and ankle injury to David Goffin.
Although it wasn’t the way he wanted to advance, Nadal probably won’t mind getting the job done quickly.
He has been doing it all fortnight. In five matches at Roland Garros, the newly-turned 31-year-old has only spent just under eight hours on court.
Tuesday’s rain meant all four men’s quarterfinals were scheduled for Wednesday.
This story was first published on CNN.com, “French Open: Novak Djokovic crushed by Dominic Thiem, Rafa Nadal quickly advances.”
