BLOCK BUSTER: NADAL TOPS THIEM

Rafa Nadal is an absolute authority on clay. The way he plays, the way he dominates his opponents is incredible. Today's quarter final match against Dominic Thiem was just another example of his mastery on this surface.

As you may remember, Dominic Thiem has best results on clay, defated Djokovic in 3rd round here. So the expectations for today's match is high. But when it comes to Rafa Nadal, I think the best is not to expect anything but try to play your own game.

Rafa started aggressive and broke Thiem's service in the 2. game of the first set. He was like a thunder that you can not stand in front of him. Rafa made his opponent like he paralyzed. Nothing Thiem did worked in the first set and Rafa took the first set 6-0.

It is good to remember that Dominic Thiem was the only player beat Rafa on clay last year. So it is clear that Rafa doesn't allow his opponents play their game and made it look easy. Rafa Nadal has won 81 matches consecutively in 2 years row on clay  which is a record for open era. I think playing against Rafa Nadal is the best way to understand where is your game on this surface or what things you should do to improve your game. According to me Rafa is the best teacher to show every player on tour how to play on clay.

Second set was no different. Rafa is dominant, didn't give Thiem a chance to move on court, his confidence and determination was so strong that even i got that feeling from tv. What even Thiem could have been thinking?

Rafa broke Thiem's service just ike in the beginner. Thiem tried his best, tried to play his game but Rafa was like a wall against him. No matter he sent a ball to Rafa, he just kept sending back to him balls with more spin. It was like a nightmare for Thiem, I guess.

Second set, Thiem managed to get 2 games but it was not enough to stick on match. Rafa Nadal took the second set 6-2 and the match 6-0,6-2.

It is always a great pleasure for me to watch Rafa Nadal. He is a treasure for tennis world.

He will face against Grigor Dimitrov in semi-final tomorrow. With this performance today, I believe Nadal will easily top Dimitrov too. We will see tomorrow.

*Nadal photo taken from ESPN instagram page.