Tennis : Thiem outclasses Pella to set up Barcelona Open semi-final against Nadal

Third seed Dominic Thiem set up a Barcelona Open semi-final with 11-time champion Rafael Nadal, after the Austrian defeated Guido Pella 7-5, 6-2 in the quarter-finals. Pella started brightly but after Thiem edged a tight first set 7-5, the 2018 French Open finalist ran away with the second and dropped just two further games after an hour and 40 minutes on court. Nadal leads his head-to-head with Thiem - with eight wins to three losses.But the Austrian is the only player to have defeated Nadal on clay over the past two seasons, in Madrid last year and in Rome in 2017.Thiem also pushed Nadal to five sets during their US Open quarter-final last year, and the 25-year-old will be keen to avenge his 2017 Barcelona Open final straight sets defeat to the Spaniard.