TENNIS / THIEM ROUTS SCHWARTZMAN IN Q'FINALS

Second-seeded Dominic Thiem beat Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-2, 6-3 on Friday to reach the Rio Open semifinals, where he is the favorite following No. 1 Kei Nishikori’s defeat in the first round. Thiem has won seven ATP singles titles — five of those on clay. He was tested at times, saving eight break points out of 10, but took all six of his chances on Schwartzman’s serve. “There were many opportunities for him, but I’m happy the way I played on his break points,” Thiem said. “I think it was my best performance here in Rio.” The 23-year-old Austrian next faces Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The Spaniard defeated Nicolas Kicker by the same score, breaking the Argentine’s serve three times. Ramos-Vinolas defeated Thiem last year in their only previous match, 6-1, 6-4 in Chengdu, China. /