Stanislas Wawrinka (right) shakes hands with Dominic Thiem after he was defeated in the Madrid Open second round on Tuesday. (Reuters)

AFP/Madrid


Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka suffered a shock defeat to Austrian qualifier Dominic Thiem at the Madrid Masters on Tuesday as the 20-year-old progressed to the third round 1-6, 6-2, 6-4.
A finalist in Madrid last year, Wawrinka seemed on course for a routine win after romping through the first set, but Thiem levelled with some excellent tennis in the second before sealing the biggest win of his career with the only break of serve in the third set.
Wawrinka’s defeat means Rafael Nadal is the only top four seed left in the draw as Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer withdrew due to injury and family reasons respectively.
“I had an easy first set, but he was still there and still fighting. After that I think I had one bad game when he broke me at the beginning of the second set and then he was playing really well,” said the Swiss world number three.
“He was finding his game, whilst I was hesitating with my game and wasn’t playing my best game.
“I was really positive trying to find a way to win, but I didn’t. I had some chances in the third set and I should have played better when I had those opportunities.”
Thiem, meanwhile, was surprised himself at the level of play he found in the final two sets to register his first win against a top 10 ranked player.
“I cannot really believe it,” said the world number 70. “I was in this famous zone during the match. I was really unbelievable concentrated. I think that’s how you can play these very good matches, if you are 100 percent concentrated out on the court.”