Thiem dethrones 11-time champion Nadal to reach Barcelona final

On Saturday, Dominic Thiem dethroned the King of Clay in Barcelona with a 6-4, 6-4 win over top seed Rafael Nadal. The highly anticipated semifinal was competitive, but not dramatic until the very last game when Thiem went down triple break point before sealing the final spot.

Going into the match, Nadal had a sizable 8-3 head-to-head lead over Thiem, but the Austrian had taken him out on clay all three times—notably in the Madrid quarterfinals last year and the Rome quarterfinals in 2017. They had last faced off in the US Open quarterfinals, which Nadal won in a deciding fifth set tiebreaker.

Thiem will contest his second career Barcelona final against first-time finalist Daniil Medvedev. This means that a new champion will be crowned in Barcelona. Nadal had won the ATP 500 title a record 11 times, including in the 2017 final over Thiem.