PARIS: Rafael Nadal moved to within one victory of ‘La Decima’ at the French Open as he demolished rising Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3 6-4 6-0 with a daunting show of force in Friday’s semi-final.
The 31-year-old Spaniard, ready to reclaim his Roland Garros crown after a two-year hiatus, dispatched the sixth seed in little more than two hours and is on the verge of becoming the first player to win the same grand slam tournament 10 times. He faces Swiss Stan Wawrinka in Sunday’s showpiece match.
Thiem, like fourth seed Nadal, had reached the semi-final without dropping a set and had trounced Serbian defending champion Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. But after starting brightly in the early evening sunshine his challenge disappeared into the encroaching shadows on Court Philippe Chatrier – an arena on which Nadal has never lost a semi-final or final since his debut in 2005.
Nadal has dropped only 29 games to reach the final – surpassing his previous best of 35 in 2012 and only two more than Bjorn Borg’s record set in 1978. Swedish great Borg might still hold that mark but Nadal has long since left the six-times French Open champion behind in the Roland Garros record books.
After Nadal’s limp exit to Djokovic in 2015 and the wrist injury that cut short his challenge last year, the Spanish claycourt king looks hungrier than ever to extend his domination on the clay surface where he has no rival.
Third seed Wawrinka’s earlier epic five-set battle against Andy Murray had delayed Nadal’s appearance until nearly 6pm local time and there was a sense of “after the Lord Mayor’s show” as the day’s second semi-final began. A break for Thiem in the opening game quickly concentrated minds – although any prospect of a tussle to match the drama of the day’s first instalment did not last long as Nadal recovered with two breaks of his own to take the opening set.
Thiem, whose elegant single-handed backhand had little effect throughout the contest, had break points early in the second set but Nadal slammed the door shut.
The Spaniard, whose only defeat on the red dirt this year came against Thiem in Rome, then broke with a clubbing forehand and lost only three more points on serve as he wrapped up the second set. Thiem’s hopes of emulating compatriot Thomas Muster’s French title in 1995, were over in a flash as Nadal raced through the third set in 28 one-sided minutes.
Having thrown the kitchen sink, the cooker, the fridge and anything else he could lay his hands on at Andy Murray, only to find himself behind, Stan Wawrinka could have been excused if he had thrown in the towel.
The burly Swiss is not nicknamed “Stanimal” for no reason, however, and he eventually overpowered the world number one 6-7(6) 6-3 5-7 7-6(3) 6-1 to reach his second French Open final in three years – this time against Rafa Nadal.
In truth, the third seed, who flung down 87 winners throughout a captivating four hour 34 minute duel, could have made things far easier for himself.
He faltered when serving at 5-3 in the first set and wasted a set point in the tiebreak before Murray conjured some magic to snatch the opener.
He then led 3-0 and 4-2 in the third set before again being ambushed by a Murray counter-attack.
Wawrinka, who produced a spellbinding display to beat Novak Djokovic in the 2015 final but lost to Murray in last year’s semis, never lost belief though and after winning the a tense fourth-set tiebreak with a rasping forehand winner he surged through the decider against a broken opponent.
There is a telling statistic about 32-year-old Wawrinka – the oldest French Open finalist since Niki Pilic in 1973.
Before his 28th birthday his record against top 10 opposition in grand slams was a dismal 3-15.
Since then it is 13-6. Even when he slipped two sets to one behind, Wawrinka did not panic – playing with controlled aggression to first soften up Murray, then crush him into the dust.
“I think it was a mentally tough battle, especially in five sets against Andy,” Wawrinka told reporters.
“But I’m happy with what I did on court, the way I was fighting, even if I was down. The way I was trying to keep my line, trying to keep being aggressive, keep going even if I lost a lot of points by some incredible defence from him.
“When you play in a semi you have to accept it. You just need to keep fighting and keep going for it. We had some crazy points with some good rallies.”
Wawrinka faces a slightly different challenge in the final where he will try and stop Nadal becoming the first player in the professional era to win the same grand slam 10 times.
He said it is a daunting task but there will be no sense of inferiority when he walks on court against the man he beat to claim the Australian Open title – his first major – in 2014.
“To play Nadal on clay in the French Open in a final is probably the biggest challenge you can have in tennis,” Wawrinka said.
“He’s the best player ever on clay. He’s going for his 10th Roland Garros, so it’s something really impressive, something tough. But the pressure is on both players.
“We both want to win, and we are going to give it all on the court.” (Reuters)
