Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem live stream, 2017 Madrid Open
Tennis - ATP 1000 Masters - Madrid Open - Men's Singles Semifinal - Novak Djokovic of Serbia v Rafael Nadal of Spain - Madrid, Spain - 13/5/17 - Nadal plays a forehand. Reuters / Sergio Perez

Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem will square off for the third time in four weeks during the quarter-finals of the Italian Open on Friday. Nadal got the better of the 23-year-old Austrian in Barcelona and most recently the finals at the Madrid Masters.

The Spaniard is now on an amazing 17-0 winning streak (33-2 in sets) since the start of the clay-court season, having breezed to victories at Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid in recent weeks. On Thursday, Nadal beat American Jack Sock 6-3, 6-4 to advance while Thiem saved three match points to survive American Sam Querrey 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7) in his previous round. Thiem had also saved five match points last week to beat Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov in their round of 16 match at the Madrid Masters.

Despite his recent dominance, Nadal isn't willing to underestimate Thiem or any of the competition that awaits him over the next few weeks that could culminate with a possible 10th French Open title. Most analysts are expecting Nadal to prevail at Roland Garross (May 22 - June 11) and claim Grand Slam No. 15.

“There is always room to improve. That's why I wake up every morning. I go to practice with the motivation to improve something. I can keep serving better. I can hit some more winners with the forehand and it’s something that I am working on every day to try and make happen. But it’s obvious that I am playing well and I should be very happy with the way that I am doing things," Nadal said after Thursday's win over Sock.

Nadal reckons Thiem, the eighth seed, has a bright future and could win multiple titles on clay-court surfaces down the road. "I am here to try my best. I know (it) is a tough tournament. I don't have an easy draw here, a tough one. Dominic is the player that is having probably more success now on clay, no? So will be another tough battle tomorrow. I think I can play a little bit more aggressive than what I did tonight (against Sock). I think I have to do it. But in general terms I am happy with the way that I played, obviously."

Rafael Nadal is the prohibitive favourite to win the 2017 French Open and become the first player in history to win a Grand Slam on ten occasions. Analysts feel only Novak Djokovic poses a threat to the Spaniard. Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem live streaming, Italian Open live streaming, tennis live streaming and Internazionali BNL d´Italia live streaming info follows.

Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem live stream: How to watch Italian Open 2017 online

Start time: 12 a.m. (Saturday, AEST), 4 p.m. (Local Time, CEST), 10 a.m. (ET)
On TV: Tennis Channel (USA), ESPN (Australia), Sky Sports 4 (UK)
Live Stream: Tennis TV (Global), Sky Go (UK), WatchESPN (Australia)