Rafael Nadal swept into the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Alexei Popyrin, while Ashleigh Barty booked her spot in the women’s final by ending the run of wildcard Paula Badosa.
Barty cruised into the women’s decider with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Badosa, as the world number one avenged last month’s loss to the Spaniard in Charleston.
Barty, the 2019 French Open champion, is targeting a fourth title of the year following her wins at Melbourne’s Yarra Valley Classic, in Miami and on clay in Stuttgart.
In men’s, Dominic Thiem, the Madrid runner-up in 2017 and 2018, also reached the last eight after beating Alex de Minaur 7-6 (9/7), 6-4.
But world number three Daniil Medvedev exited in the last 16 following a 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 6-1 defeat by 16th seed Cristian Garin of Chile.
