THIEM MASTERS

Beats Spaniard in Italian Open quarter-finals

TURIN Italico.

The Austrian will face either World No 2 Novak Djokovic or Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, whose quarter-final was suspended till yesterday after rain halted play with the Serb leading del Potro 6-1, 1-2.

Beaten twice by Nadal in the space of a month, in the Barcelona and Madrid Open finals, Thiem took his revenge by handing the 30-year-old Spaniard a first clay court defeat of the season in Rome.

The upset, after one hour and 51 minutes, ended Nadal’s 17match

EPA PIC Dominic Thiem in action against Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of the Italian Open in Rome on Friday.