Rafael Nadal thrashes Dominic Thiem to cruise into Monte Carlo semis

Reuters

Rafael Nadal crushed fifth seed Dominic Thiem 6-0, 6-2 to romp into the Monte Carlo Masters semi-finals on Friday as he stepped up his bid for an 11th title in style.

A tight match had been anticipated, but Nadal produced one of the most dominant wins of his career as Thiem fell to pieces.

The Austrian didn`t get on the scoreboard until the 10th game, drawing ironic cheers from the crowd.

But it was a ruthless performance from the 16-time Grand Slam champion, who has to successfully defend the title this week to remain ahead of Roger Federer at the top of the world rankings.

Nadal will face Grigor Dimitrov in the last four on Saturday, but the Bulgarian will need a massive improvement from his win over David Goffin if he`s to stand a chance against the 10-time champion.