Andy Murray crashes out of Barcelona Open after semi-final defeat to Dominic Thiem

World number one Andy Murray was unable to reach his third final of 2017 as he was upset by Austria's Dominic Thiem in the Barcelona Open semi-final.

A week after getting knocked out of the Monte-Carlo Masters, Murray accepted a wild card into Barcelona and defeated Bernard Tomic, Feliciano López and Albert Ramos-Vinolas to reach the semi-final.

However, world number nine Thiem was able to upset the Briton, defeating him 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

While the loss will be a blow to the Scot, he preferred to look at the positive side as he was aiming to get as much game time as possible under his belt ahead of the French Open.

"I got three matches in three days against all different players," Murray said, as quoted on ESPN. "Feli [Felicano Lopez] uses a lot of slice and variation, [Albert] Ramos-[Vinolas] yesterday is a lefty and today against Dominic, who plays with the kick serve and so much spin."

"To play two hours today after three yesterday will be good for me."

As for Thiem, the semi-final victory was not only his first win over Murray and a world number one, but also marked the first time he will be playing in the final in Barcelona.

"He's [Murray] 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 now play tournament favourite and reigning champion Rafael Nadal in the final, having defeated him on clay before in Buenos Aires in 2016, with the Spaniard leading the overall head-to-head with two wins to one.