Thiem upsets 'king of clay‘ Nadal 7-5, 6-3 on home soil

World
Europe

02:04

Dominic Thiem ended Rafael Nadal's 21-match unbeaten run on clay with a straights sets 7-5, 6-3 win to reach the semi-finals of the Madrid Open on Friday. Nadal had not lost on the surface since losing to Thiem in the quarter-finals of the Italian Open last May. He had also set a new record of 50 consecutive set wins on a single surface with his previous round victory.

After a break apiece, a forehand into the net by Nadal was to cost him another break in game 11, and Thiem held serve to take the first set 7-5. Thiem managed to take just two games against Nadal in defeat to the Spaniard at the Monte-Carlo Masters last month, but this time the Austrian was bossing the match.

In the second set, Thiem broke Nadal in games 3, 7 and 9, to Nadal's only reply in game 6, and he completed a 7-5, 6-3 victory in an hour and 55 minutes.

Dominic Thiem celebrates the win. /CFP Photo

Defeat for Nadal will end his latest 6-week reign as the world number one in the ATP Rankings. In the semi-finals, Thiem faces sixth seed Kevin Anderson, with the South African having had the upper-hand in their last six matches.

Zverev beats Isner in straight sets to reach semi-finals

For another match, Second-seeded Alexander Zverev beat seventh-seeded John Isner 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the semi-finals of the Madrid Open.

Isner, who beat Zverev in their last encounter at the Miami Open, could not shake an impeccable performance from the 21-year-old.

John Isner (left) shaking hands with Alexander Zverev (right). /CFP Photo

Zverev did not face a single break point in the course of his 78-minute victory, and one break of the Isner serve in each set proved sufficient to see him through.

It was Alexander Zverev’s seventh successive win after sealing the match 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the semi-finals at the Madrid Open.

In the other quarter-finals, South Africa's Anderson beat Dusan Lajovic of Serbia in three sets, while Shapovalov went the distance in defeating Great Britain's Kyle Edmund.