AgenciesMadrid: Austrian Dominic Thiem beat Kevin Anderson for the first time at the seventh attempt to reach the Madrid Open final for the second successive year on Saturday. The fifth seed won 6-4, 6-2 as he continued the scintillating form that ended top seed Rafa Nadal's year-long unbeaten run on clay the day before. South African Anderson, seeded sixth, was playing in his first Masters 1000 semi-final but faded after a solid start. Thiem needed a single break of serve in the opening set and broke twice in the second to wrap up victory. Nadal, meanwhile, played down the significance of his quarter-final defeat to Thiem - a loss that ended a year-long winning streak on clay and cost him the world No.

Source: The Telegraph May 12, 2018 21:22 UTC