Thiem: Special Shots Key To Nadal Upset

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Thiem: Special Shots Key To Nadal Upset

Dominic Thiem was battered by Rafael Nadal in their last meeting and brilliant in the rematch.

A year after bouncing Nadal out of Rome, Thiem toppled Nadal in Madrid, 7-5, 6-3, snapping the top-seed's 50-set clay-court streak and 20 consecutive clay-court victories.

Watch: Thiem Terminates Nadal's Streak

Blown out by Nadal in Monte Carlo last month, Thiem red-lined it in the rematch that will cost the 10-time Roland Garros champion his world No. 1 ranking.

Hammering his forehand to Nadal's backhand wing, Thiem played heavy deep groundstrokes with plenty of margin. The two-time Roland Garros semifinalist also exploited the Spaniard's deep returning positioning by serve-and-volleying to earn set point in the first set.

Thiem zapped an ace to close the opening set.

"I'm super, super happy of course because it's a special win against the best player on clay of all time then it's against a current number one, which is very special as well," Thiem said. "It was the best match for a very long time for me. Many things worked out well for me so I'm super happy of course.

"If I play normal against him like I always do I lose probably to him," Thiem said afterward. "So I have to play special shots. I played more forehands down the line, I played a little bit more aggressive and it worked out very, very well obviously. My groundstrokes were really aggressive and also safe today so I think that was the key.

"Of course it's tough because two weeks ago I only made two games against him in Monte-Carlo. Still, I like it in Madrid and if you can beat him on clay it's here and Rome... And I was really going in with the belief to win and that was very important."

Thiem celebrated a historic win exchanging a heart-felt hug with girlfriend Kristina Mladenovic, the 2017 Madrid finalist.

A well-deserved hug!

👉🏻 Women’s doubles finalist ✅
👉🏻 Men’s singles semifinalist ✅

Stunning tennis @KikiMladenovic and @ThiemDomi! 🎾👏🏻 #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/YedXlhORW0
— Mutua Madrid Open (@MutuaMadridOpen) May 11, 2018