Nadal eyes title after Dimitrov, Thiem crash out
Rafael Nadal's path to an 11th Barcelona title was cleared of dangermen Grigor Dimitrov and Dominic Thiem on Friday when they crashed to shock quarter-final losses.
Second seed Dimitrov was knocked out by fifth-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno-Busta 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).
Thiem, the third-seeded Austrian, was stunned by 19-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas with the fast-rising Greek stunning the world number seven 6-3, 6-2 in 80 minutes.
World number 63 Tsitsipas won the last 14 points of the match to reach the semi-finals.
It was his second win over a top 10 player following his victory over Belgium's David Goffin in Antwerp last October.
He will face Carreno-Busta for a place in the final.
Nadal, who has won his last 40 sets played on clay, was taking on Slovakian qualifier Martin Klizan for a place in the semi-finals.
Klizan, ranked at 140, had defeated Novak Djokovic in the second round.
The day's other quarter-final sees Goffin, the fourth seed, facing Roberto Bautista Agut, the eighth-seeded Spaniard.
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