Rafael Nadal thrashes Dominic Thiem at Monte Carlo Masters

Rafael Nadal has moved a step closer to winning his 11th Monte Carlo Masters with a dominant quarter-final win over Dominic Thiem.

The world number one only recently made his return from injury, but the left-hander has not taken long to find his form on the clay and was able to dispatch Thiem by a 6-0 6-2 scoreline.

Thiem has reached the last four at Roland Garros in his last two attempts and defeated Novak Djokovic on Thursday, but the Austrian was no match for Nadal who romped to the first set for the loss of just four points behind his own serve.

Nadal won nine straight games before Thiem got on the board, but the 31-year-old only required a total of 68 minutes to secure a place in the semi-finals.

Grigor Dimitrov will face Nadal on Saturday after the Bulgarian got the better of David Goffin.