It’s confirmed: fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain and Swiss Stan Wawrinka, the third seed, will clash in the men’s singles final in Paris on Sunday.
Nadal, using brute power, tamed Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 to enter his 10th final while Wawrinka demolished top-seeded Andy Murray of Great Britain 6-7(8), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-1 to book a berth in his second Roland-Garros final in three years.
“I started a little bit more nervous today than normal, but then I played well, I think. It's true that Dominic played with more mistakes than usual, probably,” Nadal said after his 127 minutes win.
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“At the same time it was windy out there, and he didn't play in the centre court before that match. Probably that was not helping him. In general, to be in the final again here probably the most important event in my career means a lot to me, no? I’m just very, very happy for everything, and I’m going to try my best on Sunday,” said the Spaniard.
Wawrinka, the 2015 champion, took sweet revenge on Murray, who had beaten him in the semi-finals here in Paris last year.
“For sure it wasn't easy to be two sets to one down. When you play a player like Andy Murray, you know that you can dominate the games, but he's still going to be there. He's still going to do incredible defence, play the right tennis in the right moment. That's why he's No. 1 in the world,” said Wawrinka.
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“When you enter in a Grand Slam against him, you have to accept that. You need to keep trying to focus on what you do. I think it was mentally a tough battle today, I'm really happy to find a way to win the match.”
Looking ahead to the final against Nadal, Wawrinka said it would be a challenge.
“I think to play Rafa on clay in the French Open in a final is probably the biggest challenge you can have in tennis. He's the best player ever on clay. He's going for his 10th Roland-Garros, so it's something really impressive, something tough,” he said.
“At the end of the day, it's a final. The pressure is on both players. No one goes on the court thinking he has no pressure. We both want to win the title, and we both are going to give it all on the court.”
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles final on Saturday, unseeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia will take on third-seeded Simona Halep of Romania. It’s a battle between players with contrasting styles, between defence and attack, experience and youth.
Halep is carrying the tag of the overwhelming favourite while Ostapenko, who plays free-hitting tennis, is young and has nothing to lose.
