Can Stefanos Tsitsipas stop Rafael Nadal? Madrid Open talking points

A look ahead to Saturday's action at the Madrid Open

Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Alexander Zverev to set up a semi-final showdown with Rafael Nadal on Saturday. Reuters

Rafael Nadal is yet to drop a set in Madrid this year on his run to the last four. AFP

Dominic Thiem is looking to follow up on his success in Barcelona in Madrid. Reuters

Novak Djkokovic will have not played for just over 48 hours when he faces Thiem in the semi-finals. AFP

Simona Halep is not 100 per cent fitness wise but has still reached the women's final. Reuters

Kiki Bertens is looking to go one better then in 2018 when she faces Halep in the women's Madrid final. Reuters

The penultimate day of the Madrid Open takes place on Saturday and it is made up of two men's semi-finals and the women's final. Here is what to look for from the action.

Can Stefanos Tsitsipas stop Rafael Nadal?

Tsitsipas's form on clay until last week had been nothing to write home about: he didn't get beyond the last 16 in either Monte Carlo or Barcelona.

But the world No 9 did win the Estoril Open in Portugal before arriving in Madrid, but that needs to have some context considering he faced just one player ranked inside the top 60 - world No 23 David Goffin - in the semi-finals.

Tsitsipas has impressed in Madrid, though. He made a potentially awkward match with Fernando Verdasco straightforward and then downed world No 3 Alexander Zverev, the defending champion, on Friday in the quarter-finals.

Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals is a different challenge altogether. The greatest player to ever compete on clay is a fearsome prospect in the Spanish capital.

The 11-time French Open champion has not been firing on all cylinders this year. He reached only the semi-finals in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, not a disaster to most people, but to Nadal it is a big surprise.

The second seed has not dropped a set in Madrid, though, and trounced Stan Wawrinka on Friday for the loss of just three games.

Nadal beat Tsitsipas in the Barcelona final 6-2, 6-1 last year and the Spaniard, who has won all three matches against the 20-year-old Greek, also beat him in the Australian Open semi-finals in January in straight sets.

A closer match is likely this time, but it will be a tall order for Tsitsipas to be triumphant.

Thiem's test of stamina against Djokovic

Dominic Thiem has won his past two matches with world No 1 Novak Djokovic on clay.

The world No 5 prevailed in the French Open quarter-finals in 2017 and then the last 16 in Monte Carlo last year.

Confidence should be sky high for the Austrian, the only man to beat Rafael Nadal on clay since 2017, and coming into the match on the back of defeating Roger Federer in a thriller on Friday.

The challenge will be his stamina. He played until 9.20pm UAE time on Friday and will be back on court at 6pm on Saturday to face Djokovic.

The kicker is Djokovic had Friday off due to Marin Cilic pulling out of their quarter-final due to food poisoning.

This will be a tremendous test of Thiem's fitness. He has the prowess on clay to beat Djokovic, and it will be a good test for both him and the Serbian, who has not won an event since the Australian Open.

Simona Halep v Kiki Bertens

The women's final is a match-up of arguably the best player on clay in the women's game up against one of the players best placed to take her French Open crown in June.

Halep is clearly not 100 per cent as she struggles with various niggles, but she showed her spirit by beating in-form Belinda Bencic in the semi-finals.

Bertens has not dropped a set en route to the final, beating three grand slam champions in Jelena Ostapenko, Petra Kvitova and Sloane Stephens.

Halep will not yield easily but Bertens has some serious momentum and she can go one better here and win the title, 12 months after losing to Kvitova in the final.