Thiem ends Nadal’s magical clay court streak

Agence France-Presse

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Thiem ends Nadal’s magical clay court streak

AFP

Austria's Dominic Thiem stuns Rafael Nadal just a day after the world number one Spaniard records a 50-set winning streak on clay

MADRID, Spain – Rafael Nadal suffered his first clay-court defeat in almost a year when the world number one was shocked 7-5, 6-3 by Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the Madrid Masters quarter-finals on Friday, May 11.

Defending champion Nadal, who came into the tournament having won both Monte Carlo and Barcelona for an 11th time, also saw his record 50-set winning streak on clay ended by the fifth-seeded Thiem.

Thiem, the runner-up to the great Spaniard in the 2017 Madrid final, had been the last player to defeat Nadal on clay at the 2017 Italian Open in Rome – 357 days ago.

The shock result on Friday also means that Roger Federer will reclaim the world number one ranking on Monday. 

“A player like Dominic has a lot of potential. Whenever he plays really well, it’s very difficult to stop him,” admitted Nadal.

“He played well and I didn’t play well. We’re not playing a game where the differences are big or massive. The differences are very small.”

Five-time Madrid winner Nadal, who will be bidding for an 11th French Open title in Paris later this month, had won his previous 21 matches on clay.

That run included him surpassing John McEnroe’s 1984 record of 49 sets won in succession on the same surface during his last-16 duel with Diego Schwartzman on Thursday. 

However, in their 9th career clash, Thiem put Nadal under pressure almost from the start on Friday and broke for a 4-3 lead in the first set.

A double fault and a long forehand allowed Nadal to retrieve the break at 5-5.

It was a brief reprieve as a lazy forehand volley gave Thiem a 6-5 advantage and the set came the Austrian’s way in the 12th game off an ace.

Thiem, watched by his girlfriend – and WTA star – Kristina Mladenovic, turned the screw for a 3-1 lead in the second set but Nadal battled back to 3-3.

That was as good as it got for the Spaniard as Thiem broke again for 4-3, held to love for 5-3 and secured victory with another blistering forehand.

Thiem, who next faces South Africa’s Kevin Anderson for a place in Sunday’s final, joins Novak Djokovic and Gaston Gaudio as just the 3rd man to have beaten Nadal 3 times on clay. 

“It takes a really good match to beat Rafa on clay. But I think a very important thing also was today that I went in with the attitude that I can beat him,” said Thiem.

“Two weeks ago in Monte Carlo, he killed me love and two. It was very important I went in with a positive attitude, with an attitude to win. I should go into every match like this against him.”

World No. 8 Anderson battled into his first Masters semi-final with a 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 win over Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic.

Anderson, the 31-year-old US Open runner-up last year, hit 15 aces and 35 winners.

Bertens cruises into final 

Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens continued her remarkable run at the Madrid Open by thrashing French seventh seed Caroline Garcia to reach the womens’ final. 

The world number 20 will face either Petra Kvitova or Karolina Pliskova in the biggest match of her career on Saturday, after brushing aside Garcia 6-2, 6-2. 

Bertens, who had already stunned world number two Caroline Wozniacki and five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova earlier in the week, started brightly and broke twice en route to the opening set.

Garcia struggled throughout and never even mustered a break-point opportunity, falling in the semi-finals for the second straight tournament after losing to CoCo Vandeweghe in Stuttgart.

 Bertens, whose 5 previous WTA titles have all come on clay, was rock-solid in the second set as she wrapped up the win in only an hour and 7 minutes.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova takes on her fellow Czech Pliskova in the second last-four clash. – Rappler.com

 

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