Thiem beats Murray to reach Barcelona Open final
The Austrian, ranked ninth, saw off the world number one to book a spot in Sunday's final, where he will play either Rafa Nadal or Horacio Zeballos.
World number nine Dominic Thiem achieved his first win over world number one Andy Murray to earn a spot in the final of the Barcelona Open on Saturday.
The Austrian will face Rafael Nadal, who is looking for his 10th title in Barcelona, or Argentina's Horacio Zeballos on Sunday.
Murray squeezed past Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a three-hour encounter on Friday and looked flat-footed as Thiem roared through the opening set with three breaks of serve in just over half an hour on his way to a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory.
The Scot had to stave off another break point in a marathon opening game to the second set.
But he held on and then jumped at his chance to break for 5-3 before serving out to take the match to a decider.
Murray return from injury
Murray, though, still looks a pale shadow of the player that rose to number one on a spectacular run at the end of last year as he struggles for form and fitness after an elbow injury.
Thiem had to battle back from a break down in the third, but constantly put pressure on the Murray serve and broke another three times in the deciding set to seal his place in the final.