Tennis Alert • Rafa Nadal Loses To Dom Thiem On Clay In Barcelona 2019

Dominic Thiem of Austria celebrates his victory against Rafael Nadal of Spain in their semifinal men’s single match of the 67th Barcelona Open Trofeo Conde de Godo tennis tournament in Barcelona, Spain, 27 April 2019. EPA-EFE/ALEJANDRO GARCIA

 

 

Nadal goes down again on clay, as Thiem too good in Barcelona semifinals

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

Rafael Nadal won’t get a shot at 12th title at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Sunday.

 

Nadal suffered a first-ever Barcelona semifinal loss when he fell to a red-hot Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday afternoon. Thiem, who finished runner-up to Nadal at last year’s French Open, did not face a single break point the entire way and held from 0-40 down at 5-4 in the second set to clinch victory after two hours and four minutes.

 

Next up for the fifth-ranked Austrian is Daniil Medvedev, who survived a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 thriller against No. 4 seed Kei Nishikori.

 

“He was up a break in the third and I felt that I lost the momentum,” Medvedev reflected. “The match was going away from me. I’m really happy that I managed to hold my nerves, to try to come back, and I managed to come back. I’m just happy to be in the final.

 

“I think I’m getting more consistent on every surface and it’s good for me. I hope I can continue improving every day. That’s my goal and I hope I can beat more players like this because that’s when you improve, when you beat these top players.”

 

Medvedev may have to play the clay-court match of his life in order to capture the title–even though it isn’t Nadal on the other side of the net. Thiem is arguably the King of Clay heir apparent to the Spaniard, with eight of his 12 titles coming on the slow stuff plus a 2017 Roland Garros semifinal finish to go along with his 2018 final appearance.

 

Draw

Dominic Thiem…..d. Schwartzman…..d. Munar…..d. Pella…..d. Nadal
Daniil Medvedev…..d. Ramos-Vinolas…..d. McDonald…..d. Jarry…..d. Nishikori

 

Seeds

1. Rafael Nadal: l. to Thiem in semifinals
2. Alexander Zverev: l. to Jarry in third round
3. Dominic Thiem: vs. Medvedev in final
4. Kei Nishikori: l. to Medvedev in semifinals
5. Stefanos Tsitsipas: l. to Struff in third round
6. Karen Khachanov: l. to Pella in second round
7. Daniil Medvedev: vs. Thiem in final
8. Fabio Fognini: WITHDREW
9. Denis Shapovalov: l. to Garin in second round
10. David Goffin: l. to Struff in second round
11. Gilles Simon: l. to McDonald in second round
12. Pablo Carreno Busta: l. to Paire in second round
13. Grigor Dimitrov: l. to Jarry in third round
14. Frances Tiafoe: l. to Munar in second round
15. Lucas Pouille: l. to Ferrer in second round
16. Felix Auger-Aliassime: l. to Nishikori in third round

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.