What better way for Rafael Nadal to avenge his loss to Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinal round of the Italian Open than with a dominant victory at the Roland Garros. The 23-year-old Thiem is the only man to have beaten the Spaniard on clay this year, but Rafa proved to the young Austrian that he still has a long ways to go in overtaking him at the new face of the French Open.
Nadal needed just a little over two hours to eliminate Thiem from the tournament, cruising to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 decision. He converted six of his 10 break-point opportunities and 76 percent of his chances at points on second serve.
With the impressive win, Nadal remains undefeated in 10 semifinal-round appearances at the French Open. Not only that, but the Mallorcan needed just a career-best 29 games at Roland Garros this year to advance to his 10th final of the tournament.
Nadal’s opponent in Sunday’s finale, World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, is definitely no pushover. He does, however, still have a significant edge in head-to-head wins against the Swiss, 15-3. The two have only met once in Paris, but it was still the King of Clay who emerged victorious in the quarterfinal of the 2013 edition of the French Open in straight sets.
A grueling five-set semifinal match versus Andy Murray resulted into a tremendous win for Stan Wawrinka, who took the top-ranked Brit to the limit at Roland Garros, 6-7(8), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-1.
Wawrinka’s power and resolve was just too much for Murray to handle. The 32-year-old standout punched in six aces to Murray’s one and eventually finished with a significant edge in winners, 87-36. However, fatigue may come as a huge factor working against Wawrinka heading into his showdown against Nadal, as he needed four hours to eliminate Murray.
Then again, we should remember that Wawrinka’s no stranger to success in Paris. Sunday will mark his second trip to the final round at Roland Garros, having won in his first and only crack at it back in 2015 over top-seeded Novak Djokovic in four sets.
And while Rafa has gotten the better of Wawrinka as we’ve mentioned earlier, those three wins of Wawrinka over Nadal were all met during the Swiss’ career-defining 2015 campaign. One of those victories even came on clay; a straight-sets triumph in Rome.
Writer’s Prediction
Nadal (-600) remains the undoubted gold standard at the French Open with a victory over Wawrinka in four sets.
