Rafael Nadal won the US Open quarterfinal match against Dominic Thiem on Wednesday, after setting up a rematch of June’s French Open final, when he crushed the latter in straight sets to win his 17th major.

Ahead of the match, Nadal had said he will need to raise his game to get past the red-hot Thiem, who reached his first US Open quarter-final when he defeated 2017 US Open runner-up Kevin Anderson in straight sets.

“He’s a fantastic player. He’s a very powerful player. He’s a great guy,” Nadal had told reporters.

Earlier, the world no.1 fought off resistance from Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 win on Sunday to set up the quarterfinal against Thiem in New York.