The home favourite, who is unbeaten so far this season on clay, picking up titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, added another Masters title to his CV.
Thiem, who played the Spaniard in the final in Barcelona, made it a lot tougher for Nadal in Madrid, staying with Nadal in long rallies and creating chances throughout the first set. But after an hour of tennis, the new world number 4, closed it out by 10-8 in the tie-break. Thiem, who rallied throughout the second set but not as threatening as in the first set, was broken and Nadal went on to clinch his fifth title in Madrid.
Nadal, who now heads to Rome, for back-to-back 1000 Masters series tournaments, has equalled Novak Djokovic, who is now without a coaching team at the moment, on 30 titles each.
In the women’s tournament, Romanian Simona Halep, continued her brilliant run in Madrid, by taking her 2nd title on 4 seasons with a 7-5,6-7,6-2 win over France’s Kristina Mladenovic.
