Dominic Thiem

Nadal beaten in Rome by Thiem

Thiem, who secured a 6-4 6-3 victory to move through to the semi-finals, was able to exact some form of revenge on Nadal who had beaten the Austrian world no 7 in both the Madrid and Barcelona finals.

Nadal, 30, a former seven-time champion in the Italian capital, is hoping to secure his 10th French Open title when the second major of the year begins later this month.

However, it was the 23-year-old Thiem who raced into a 5-1 lead against the world no 4, only for Nadal to reduce the deficit to 5-4 with a break of serve before Thiem closed the first set out 6-4.

Murray beaten by Thiem in Barca

Murray, who entered the tournament to get more matches under his belt as he works his way back from an elbow injury, has gradually been improving over the course of the week, but was unable to cope with the powerful young Austrian in a brutal battle.

Fourth seed Thiem notched his third British scalp of the week after knocking out Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans, and sealed a famous 6-2 3-6 6-4 win in two hours and 15 minutes to reach Sunday's final where he could meet nine-time winner Rafael Nadal.