• Wion
  • /Sports
  • /Rafael Nadal's unbeaten run ends as Dominic Thiem knocks him out of Madrid Open

Rafael Nadal's unbeaten run ends as Dominic Thiem knocks him out of Madrid Open

Rafael Nadal's unbeaten run ends as Dominic Thiem knocks him out of Madrid Open

Rafael Nadal

Story highlights

Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem defeated world number one Rafael Nadal 7-5 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open

Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem defeated world number one Rafael Nadal 7-5 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open and also ended Nadal's 21-match unbeaten run on clay. 

Recently Nadal broke John McEnroe's 34-year record by winning his 50th consecutive set on clay.

31-year-old Rafael Nadal had set a new record of 50 consecutive set wins on a single surface on Thursday after defeating Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-4 in the previous round.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Defending champion had not dropped a set on clay since losing to Thiem in 2017 and now after 357 days, it is no one other than Dominic Thiem who finally ended Nadal's winning streak.

000_14S9QL.jpg

Fifth-seeded Thiem outplayed Nadal as the later was playing below his best and hit 29 unforced errors in the two sets and also failed to convert break points.

Five-time Madrid champion Nadal came into the tournament having won his 11th titles at Monte Carlo and at Barcelona.

The shock result also means that Roger Federer will reclaim the world number one ranking on Monday.