Madrid Open 2017: Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem Advance to Final

Rafael Nadal thumped Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the final of the 2017 Madrid Open after what was a surprisingly one-sided semi-final between two of the sport's greatest icons.

The 30-year-old came into the last four in Madrid having lost his previous seven meetings with Djokovic—including their last three meetings on clay—but Nadal subverted the odds to record a mighty triumph.

He'll be joined in Sunday's decider by Dominic Thiem, who beat Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 6-4 in the evening fixture and will be making his maiden appearance in the Madrid final.

Nadal has made a resounding return closer to his best form on Madrid's clay over the past week, and he'll have the chance to extend his all-time record haul of four wins in this competition on Sunday.

Read on for details on Sunday's final and a recap of Saturday's action as Nadal toppled the world No. 2 to sail into the Madrid Open showdown in front of a home crowd.

Final Date: Sunday, May 14

Time: 5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET

Result	Score
(4) Rafael Nadal bt. (2) Novak Djokovic	6-2, 6-4
(8) Dominic Thiem bt. Pablo Cuevas	6-4, 6-4

Semi-Finals Recap

It took Nadal only one hour and 38 minutes to complete what was arguably the most dominant of his 24 career wins over Djokovic, putting an end to the Serb's seven-match winning streak over his long-term rival.

Not only that, but Djokovic had won 15 consecutive sets in his previous meetings with Nadal coming into Saturday's semi, emphasising the magnitude of Nadal's imperious 6-2 win in the opener, via Tennis TV:

The tournament's second seed put up a stronger fight in the second set and came close to breaking Nadal in the decisive 10th game before the Spaniard pulled it back to deuce with a superb final push to seal the result.

In the end, however, Djokovic's lack of fluidity compared to Nadal's superior clay pedigree told the difference between the pair as Christopher Clarey of the New York Times updated the latter's ridiculous record on this surface:

Djokovic saved only two of the six break points he faced and surrendered his serve on four occasions—twice in each set—while Nadal only lost his once.

It was the Serb's serving that let him down more than anything, though, as the ATP World Tour website showed he won only 56 percent of the points played on his first serve, compared with Nadal's substantially superior ratio of 78 percent.

Thiem will have the honour of attempting to oust an in-form Nadal in his current stride, having beaten South American Cuevas in straight sets following a late start to proceedings.

Jose Morgado of Portuguese newspaper Record detailed this as a career first run to this point of any tournament of this size for the 23-year-old:

Thiem failed to concede his serve across both sets and could have recorded a much more dominant victory had he managed to convert more than two of the nine break points levelled against Cuevas.

There was a touch of controversy surrounding the second semi-final, however, as tennis writer Gaspar Ribeiro Lanca pointed out the unfair scheduling compared to Nadal and Djokovic's afternoon fixture:

Thiem is sure to be even more of an underdog for his fight against clay king Nadal as a result, with limited time not only to prepare for his biggest match of the year thus far but to recover from his qualifier overall.

Nadal has won three of his four meetings with Thiem, per the ATP World Tour website, but the Austrian can hold out hope for an upset, having beaten the Spanish powerhouse at the Argentina Open semis on clay last year.