Top-ranked Andy Murray loses in Barcelona semifinals; Maria Sharapova falls in Stuttgart

World No. 1 Andy Murray lost to Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the Barcelona Open semifinals on Saturday.

Murray’s defeat came a week after he exited the third round at Monte Carlo. That loss prompted Murray to enter Barcelona to whip up some form for the French Open following a right elbow injury.

Murray fell for the first time in three meetings with Thiem.

NRafael Nadal returned to the final by beating Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-3, 6-4 in the other semifinal at the Real Club de Tenis.

Nadal, a nine-time champion on Barcelona’s clay, said he “wasn’t surprised” by Thiem’s first win over Murray in three attempts.

“Thiem is a specialist on clay, one of the best in the world,” Nadal said. “It will be a tough match for me, but I am just happy to be back in the final.”

Thiem started strong, breaking Murray’s first two service games before adding a third break en route to taking the first set.

The ninth-ranked Thiem had a break point in the second set, but Murray held serve and broke him back to even the match at a set apiece.

Murray was again in trouble at 4-2 down in the decisive set, and folded when he failed to successfully return Thiem’s deep lob on match point.

“He’s the No. 1 in the world, so you have to find something in between playing aggressive and not making mistakes,” Thiem said. “I was the luckiest in the end.”

Thiem will be seeking his second title of the year and to add to his eight career titles.

Nadal looked set to roll past Zeballos, but he had to save five break points in windy conditions to get the straight-sets win. Nadal won his 10th Monte Carlo title last weekend. Sunday’s final will be his fifth of the season for the Spaniard as he primes his clay-court game for Roland Garros in a month.

Mladenovic takes out Sharapova

Maria Sharapova’s first tournament since her controversial return to tennis is over after losing to Kristina Mladenovic of France in the Porsche Grand Prix semifinals.

Mladenovic beat former top-ranked Sharapova 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

In her fourth match following a 15-month doping ban, the Russian was left to rue missing 13 of her 16 break-point opportunities as Mladenovic rallied to win in 2 hours, 38 minutes.

The 19th-ranked Mladenovic, who ousted two-time defending champion Angelique Kerber on Thursday, next plays the winner of the other semifinal between fourth-seeded Simona Halep and last year’s runner-up Laura Siegemund.

Five-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova, who tested positive for meldonium at last year’s Australian Open, had been given a wild card to enter the Stuttgart event after losing her ranking because of the ban.