Nadal loses world No. 1 ranking, clay streak vs. Thiem in Madrid quarters

The King of Clay has finally fallen.

With Dominic Thiem's 7-5, 6-3 straight-set victory over Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, not only did Nadal see his record-setting 50-set winning streak on clay come to an end, he also lost his No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings.

Nadal will be overtaken as No. 1 by longtime rival Roger Federer, who is sitting out clay season but doesn't have any points to defend anyway, having skipped clay-court tournaments in 2017 as well.

The last time Nadal lost on his preferred surface was nearly a year ago against a familiar opponent; Theim beat Nadal 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals at last year's Rome Masters. The Austrian's latest victory continues to establish his reputation as one of the best young performers on clay - and a possible heir apparent to Nadal's fiefdom.

Still, Thiem's victories pale in comparison to Nadal's steady dominance on dirt. The Mallorcan ran roughshod over the field during the past calendar year, capturing the title at Roland Garros last May, picking up where he left off with a pair of straight-set wins over Germany in Davis Cup action, and earning titles at the Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open in April this year. He'll look to establish a new clay streak in Rome next week, with Roland Garros to follow.

In the meantime, Thiem will face South Africa's Kevin Anderson in his semifinal Saturday. Canada's Denis Shapovalov will face the winner of Alexander Zverev and John Isner in the other semifinal, meaning that, for the first time since 2007, someone other than Nadal, Federer, Novak Djokovic, or Andy Murray will win Spain's premier tennis tournament.