Buenos Aires: Defending champion Rafael Nadal suffered another setback on Saturday when he squandered a match point before losing 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) to Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the Argentina Open semi-finals.

Rafael Nadal reacts after losing a point to Austria’s Dominic Thiem during the Argentina Open semis in Buenos Aires on Saturday

Top seed Nadal, playing on his favourite clay surface, finally wilted in the 32-degree heat in Buenos Aires after two hours and 50 minutes on court against Thiem, the world number 19, who goes on to face Nicolas Almagro in Sunday’s final. "It was a tough match.

I had a chance to win and missed it but Thiem played well," said Nadal, whose claycourt title total remains on 47. "I’m not worried. I just lacked consistency and need to make fewer unforced errors, but that’s nothing." Nadal now heads for Rio next week where he will again be top seed and where he was champion in 2014.

He is expecting similarly gruelling conditions in the Olympic host city. "I struggled a bit to adapt to the extreme conditions here. I felt more tired than usual.