Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal to square off in French Open final
Swiss beats Andy Murray in 5 sets; Spaniard dispatches Dominic Thiem in 3
Rafael Nadal qualified for his 10th French Open final, having achieved the feat without dropping a set in six matches.
"Nine or 10 is only 10 per cent more," Nadal joked, when asked about the historic nature of his bid to become the first man to win 10 titles at any major.
The Spaniard reached the final by overwhelming No. 6 Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 in barely two hours. Nadal has lost 29 games through six matches, back to his dominating best on clay after withdrawing from the French Open before the third round a year ago with an injured left wrist.
"I don't care about the games I lost or not, or sets, or these kind of things," Nadal said. "Only thing I care [about] is I have been playing very well during the whole event."
It will be Nadal's 22nd Grand Slam final overall, breaking a tie with Novak Djokovic for second behind Roger Federer's 28. If Nadal wins the championship on Sunday, it'll be his 15th at a major, breaking a tie with Pete Sampras for second behind Federer's 18.
Nadal, who has won all nine finals he has played in Paris, will face 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka on Sunday.
Wawrinka upsets Murray
Battering the ball as if each shot would determine the match's outcome, Wawrinka came back to beat No. 1-ranked Andy Murray 6-7 (6), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-1 on Friday and become the oldest French Open finalist in 44 years.
The No. 3-seeded Wawrinka, a 32-year-old from Switzerland, reached the fourth Grand Slam final of his career. He's won the previous three: at Roland Garros two years ago, the U.S. Open last September and the Australian Open in 2014.
"It's incredible for me to reach another final here," said Wawrinka, who extended his winning streak to a career-best 10 matches. "I have to make the most of this."
A year ago at the French Open, Wawrinka lost to Murray in the semifinals. This time, Wawrinka managed to wear down the seemingly tireless Murray, himself a three-time major champion. It was a triumph of offence over defence, as Wawrinka used his sublime one-handed backhand and hammer of a forehand to send Murray scrambling and sliding all over the red clay at Court Philippe Chatrier for a tad more than 4 1/2 hours.
On the attack
Over and over again, Murray would lean, or even lunge, and somehow manage to put his racket strings on seemingly unreachable shots. Murray used plenty of drop shots and lobs, often to great effect. He deflected overheads. In sum, Murray generally made Wawrinka work so hard to get any shot past him.
But make no mistake: Wawrinka does not discourage easily. He kept absolutely walloping his strokes, resolute in his intention to attack and attack and attack.
Wawrinka ran away with the fifth set, taking 16 of the first 21 points and going up 5-0. He ended it, appropriately, with a backhand down the line, his 87th winner of the day, 51 more than Murray accumulated.
"Physically, I didn't feel my best at the end," Murray said. "I didn't have enough weight on my shot at the end of the match to put him under pressure."
When he faces Nadal on Sunday, Wawrinka will be the oldest man in a French Open title match since Niki Pilic was 33 when he was the runner-up to Ilie Nastase in 1973.