Dominic Thiem beat Rafael Nadal for the fourth successive year on a clay court after powering past him 6-4 6-4 to reach the Barcelona final.
It was an impressive performance from the Austrian, who beat the 11-time champion in straight sets to reach his second Barcelona final.
As a result Nadal lost his first ever semi-final in Barcelona and it will be the first time he enters Madrid without a title to his name since 2004.
In the final Thiem will play Daniil Medvedev, who edged past Kei Nishikori 6-4 3-6 7-5 to reach his first ever clay-court final.
The start of the match saw both men feel their way into the contest as the third seed was playing some of the best tennis of his career in Barcelona this week.
But the first break of the match came from some uncharacteristic Nadal errors. A poor serving display saw the Spaniard miss four of his opening five 2nd serves as a fourth double fault sealed the early break for Thiem.
There was still a lot of work to do for the world number five though and he continued to pound his punishing backhand on Nadal.
Dominic Thiem with an unbelievable backhand! 💥
Rafael Nadal's reaction says it all 😳@bcnopenbs pic.twitter.com/78f9oYDK9t
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 27, 2019
It wasn’t just the backhand which was creating problems for Nadal as the forehand proved to be equally as powerful, creating opportunities for a double break. Although the gritty world number two remained firm and kept it to the break.
A masterful serving performance sealed the opening set for an efficient Thiem, 6-4.
The second set was a bit better for the king of clay but his footwork and the timing of the forehand continued to haunt Nadal.
A miscued backhand saw the Barcelona crowd silent as Thiem once again broke in the fifth game as he was in control and continued to be the better player.
Variety. Consistency. Risk-taking. It was all there for the Austrian as he mixed up his returning and serving, even using a serve and volley on the odd occasion.
There was nearly hope for Nadal after creating his first break points of the match in the last game after some hesitancy from Thiem.
But the Austrian kept composed, showed some gutsy play and sealed the match to beat Nadal for the fourth year in a row on clay.
After the match Thiem spoke of his emotions after beating Nadal again, “I’m always super proud if I beat him because he’s the best player ever on this surface and it’s always very special to beat him here on clay. We always had great matches today and also today it was very good. I was more lucky today and I got the win.”
The loss means that Nadal will enter the tournament in Madrid having not won a tournament for the first time since 2004 and it’s his first ever loss at the semi-finals in Barcelona.
Although he remains the favourite for Roland Garros, it is cause for concern for Nadal as he looks to improve his game ahead of the second slam of the year.
As for Thiem, he will play Daniil Medvedev in his second Barcelona final after the Russian edged Nishikori in a titanic battle.
The Russian’s win means it’s his 25th win of the 2019 season and his first ever final on a clay-court as we are set for a cracking final tomorrow.
