Madrid Open 2019: Roger Federer Out, Novak Djokovic into Semi-Finals

Roger Federer failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2019 Madrid Open after Dominic Thiem beat him in three sets on Friday. The Austrian will face Novak Djokovic for a place in the final, while Rafael Nadal takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Djokovic earned a walkover win over Marin Cilic, who was forced to pull out of the match due to illness:

Federer and Dominic Thiem served up a great contest between in-form stars, setting the tone for a great day of tennis.

Tsitsipas beat Alexander Zverev in three sets, before Nadal easily handled Stanislas Wawrinka, in what was described as the best quarter-final lineup of the season:

In the women's draw, Simona Halep beat Belinda Bencic to book her place in the final. She'll face Kiki Bertens, who beat Sloane Stephens.

Here are the results from Friday.

Men's Quarter-Finals

(1) Novak Djokovic beats (9) Marin Cilic: Walkover

(5) Dominic Thiem beats (4) Roger Federer: 3-6, 7-6 (11), 6-4

(2) Rafael Nadal beats Stanislas Wawrinka: 6-1, 6-2

(8) Stefanos Tsitsipas beats (3) Alexander Zverev: 7-5, 3-6, 6-2

Women's Semi-Finals

(3) Simona Halep beats Belinda Bencic: 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-0

(7) Kiki Bertens beats (8) Sloane Stephens: 6-2, 7-5

Full results can be found at the tournament's official website, along with the schedule.

While the fans who secured a ticket for the incredible set of men's quarter-finals will have been disappointed to miss out on the clash between Djokovic and Cilic, Federer and Thiem soon made them forget all about that.

Per Tennis TV, the duo carried excellent form into their contest:

Thiem has become a clay specialist in the past few seasons, doing plenty of damage with his power from the baseline, and Federer came up with a tactical plan to counter the Austrian's advantage in the rallies.

The 37-year-old played ultra-aggressive, abandoning the slow buildup play usually seen on clay in favour of a style more typically suited to hard courts.

He also relied heavily on his serve:

It led to a dominant first set, in which Thiem found no answer for the veteran's aggressive play, but the 25-year-old made the necessary adjustments at the start of the second set.

The two were evenly matched during the set and throughout an epic tiebreak, and Thiem fought his way out of a hole and faced two match points before tying things up.

By the third set, he had figured out how to deal with Federer's aggressive tactics, winning to line up a semi-final against Djokovic.

Nadal cruised through his quarter-final contest, losing just three games to Wawrinka. The Spaniard seems to be rounding into form at the right time:

The French Open, the highlight of the clay season, will start on May 26. Thiem shocked Nadal in Barcelona, knocking the King of Clay out in two sets, but the 32-year-old has only improved since.

In the women's draw, 22-year-old Bencic gave Halep a slight scare in the second set before the latter powered through her opponent in the final set.

The two provided several highlights, with this rally standing out:

Halep is a two-time winner in Madrid and will seek her first title since 2017.