Sports round-up

Tennis: Austria’s Dominic Thiem (picture) dumped seven-times champion Rafael Nadal out of the Italian Open 6-4 6-3 yesterday to reach the semi-finals. Beaten twice by Nadal in the last three weeks, in Barcelona and in Madrid, Thiem made it third time lucky against the 30-year-old, who was unbeaten on clay this year with 17 straight wins. Alexander Zverev earlier reached his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final with a 7-6(4) 6-1 defeat of Milos Raonic. Zverev, 20, will face John Isner for a place in the final after the American beat Croatian Marin Cilic 7-6(3) 2-6 7-6(2).

Rugby Union: New Zealand’s assistant coach Wayne Smith will step down after this year’s Rugby Championship to end his 20-year involvement with the All Blacks, New Zealand Rugby said in a statement yesterday. Smith, who helped guide the All Blacks to back-to-back World Cup triumphs in 2011 and 2015, said he plans to take a break from the game. “It’s unbelievable to think that I’ve been involved in playing and coaching with the All Blacks for 20 years,” he said.

Boxing: Mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor took another step toward setting up a megafight with undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather by applying for a...