Novak Djokovic Upset by Dominic Thiem in Quarter-Finals at 2017 French Open

Novak Djokovic crashed out of the 2017 French Open on Wednesday as impressive Austrian Dominic Thiem downed the defending champion 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-0 in a bruising last-eight encounter.

Thiem put the world No. 2 firmly through his paces, as the challenger more than matched Djokovic in a lengthy opening set before winning the key moments of the tiebreak.

Thiem, 23, then held on confidently to an early break in the second set before Djokovic surprisingly capitulated as he gave up his title meekly in the third.

Thiem will now face nine-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal in the last four after the Spaniard's quarter-final opponent, Pablo Carreno Busta, retired hurt in the second set of their Wednesday encounter.

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It was clear from the off that it would not be an easy day for Djokovic. Thiem's backhand in particular was purring, and the Austrian claimed the first break of the match to lead 2-1, having taken the fourth of his break points.

Djokovic, 30, then won three games in a row, including a mammoth hold for a 3-2 lead, before Thiem broke back and levelled at 4-4.

Thiem then saved two set points before a tiebreak.

In the breaker, it took until the seventh point for either player to win on his serve, and a couple of unforced errors from Djokovic late on saw Thiem take a vital, gruelling opening set.

The momentum was well with the younger man, and more huge hitting saw him carve out break opportunities in the second game of the second set.

He finally took his third with a delicate drop shot to earn the advantage, per Eurosport UK:

Thiem was much less error-prone in the second set than he had been in the opener, with his unforced error count dropping from 18 to just eight.

And Djokovic was too passive, unable to put the pressure on Thiem as would be expected.

As a result, the sixth seed took the second set with relative ease, holding his serve confidently and showing good mental strength when put under pressure at 4-2.

There was no sign of a response from the 12-time Grand Slam winner. In fact, he looked resigned to defeat as he sprayed shot after shot well wide in the third. 

Per the New York Times' Ben Rothenberg, it was an almost uniquely humbling final set for the Serb:

Thiem was ruthless, though. While Djokovic effectively handed him the final set, Thiem set up the win brilliantly with his superb hitting in the opener and clinical tennis in the second.