Tennis: Dominic Thiem beats Rafael Nadal to reach the Barcelona Open final

Dominic Thiem defeated Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open, becoming the first player other than Novak Djokovic to defeat the Spaniard on clay four times. Thiem will try to win his second title of the year on Sunday in a final against Daniil Medvedev, who beat fourth seed Kei Nishikori 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. The Austrian third seed won his first title of the season by defeating Roger Federer at Indian Wells in March. This will be his first final on clay since last year's French Open where he lost to Nadal. It was the second successive semi-final defeat for the Spanish top seed, who was coming off a defeat to Fabio Fognini in Monte Carlo. Nadal was seeking a record 12th Barcelona title and fourth consecutive.