Novak Djokovic sees off Dominic Thiem challenge to reach Madrid Open final

World number one Novak Djokovic booked his place in the final of the Madrid Open after brushing aside fifth seed Dominic Thiem in straight sets in the last-four clash of the tournament on Saturday. 

The Serbian tennis star ended Barcelona champion Thiem's eight-match winning streak with a 7-6(2), 7-6(4) victory in a thrilling last-four clash of the men's singles event that lasted two hours and 22 minutes. 

Reflecting on his win, top-seed Djokovic said that he played the best match of the clay-court season against arguably the best tennis player in the world on this surface.

"I played the best match of the clay-court season so far, for me, against arguably the best tennis player in the world on this surface, so far [this season].[Dominic] had an amazing tournament in Barcelona and here he beat Roger yesterday in a thrilling match. So, he was in form... I just managed to hold my nerves and play the best when it was most needed," the Association for Tennis Professionals (ATP) quoted Djokovic as saying. 

With the win, Djokovic has stormed into his third Madrid Open final and first since 2019 Australian Open victory. 

The Serbian, who is bidding to equal Rafael Nadal's record of 33 ATP Masters 1000 titles, will face the winner of other semi-final clash between world number two Rafael Nadal or reigning ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in the summit showdown.