"It's way better feeling if you go against him (Nadal) and know that you've beaten him already on this surface," the 24-year-old Thiem said. Nadal lost twice to Thiem on clay last year but produced an emphatic display to beat the Austrian in straight sets en route to his 10th French Open title. The Spaniard converted four break-point opportunities to reach the quarter-finals for the 14th year in a row. Nadal, who needs to win the tournament to stay ahead of Roger Federer at the top of the world rankings, kept on course for his 11th Monte Carlo title with a comfortable 6-3 6-2 victory over Russia's Karen Khachanov. Thiem made the decisive breakthrough in the seventh game of the final set with a powerful backhand down the line and wrapped up the match with another break on his second match point. Djokovic has not reached the last eight of a tournament since last year's Wimbledon and has struggled with a long-term elbow injury. Thiem, twice French Open semi-finalist, bounced back after losing the opening set in a tiebreak to win 6-7(2) 6-2 6-3. MONTE CARLO (Reuters) - Fifth seed Dominic Thiem came from behind to knock out Novak Djokovic in the Monte Carlo Masters third round on Thursday and set up a quarter-final clash with defending champion Rafa Nadal.
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