STORBRITANNIEN: 020 3904 5599Top seed Ash Barty smashed wild-card Paula Badosa 6-4 6-3 to book her place in the final of the Madrid Open. Australian Barty has been in devastating form in recent months and has won her last 16 matches on clay. She stands on the brink of capturing her fourth title of the year.
In the men’s tournament, clay specialist Rafael Nadal cruised past youngster Alex Popyrin 6-3 6-3 to move into the quarter finals. The five-time winner is fresh from his victory in Barcelona and remains the favourite to triumph again this year. Meanwhile US Open champion Dominic Thiem also secured his place in the last eight by defeating Alex de Minaur 7-6 (7-0) 6-4 and will prove stern competition for World no 2 Nadal.
