Rafael Nadal crushed fifth seed Dominic Thiem 6-0, 6-2 to romp into the Monte Carlo Masters semi-finals on Friday as he stepped up his bid for the 11th title in style. Thiem was supposed to give the king of clay a run for his money being the last man to beat the Spaniard on his favourite surface. But the Austrian was sent scampering in just over an hour 6-0, 6-2. The Spaniard now leads their head-to-head 7-2.
Nadal is chasing an 11th title at Monte Carlo and a record 32nd Masters title. The win against Thiem took his unbeaten record on clay to 32 with his last defeat on the surface to Thiem at last year’s Rome Masters.
In the semi-final on Saturday, he will be up against world No.5, Grigor Dimitrov who beat David Goffin 6-4 7-6 in the first quarter-final.
