French Open: Stan Wawrinka battles to final, will play Rafael Nadal

“I would prefer 10 over nine, no doubt,” Rafael Nadal said matter of factly as he contemplated how close he is to making tennis history after swatting aside Dominic Thiem to reach the French Open final where he will play Stan Wawrinka.

On men’s semifinal day at Roland Garros, most would have considered Nadal’s tussle with Thiem to be the one to watch. After all, the duo tallied the most victories on clay this season and Thiem is one of the rare players to have toppled the Spaniard twice on dirt.

But it turns out that Wawrinka’s match with Andy Murray – a battle between veterans who’ve won three majors – was the standout encounter.

And by some distance.

While Nadal crushed the young Austrian 6-3 6-4 6-0 in two hours to become the third man in history – after Bill Tilden and Wawrinka’s pal Roger Federer – to reach the final at one grand slam 10 times, the Swiss prevailed over the world No. 1 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 in a four-and-a-half hour classic.

The 32-year-old Wawrinka made some history, too, becoming the oldest man to make a French Open final since Niki Pilic 1973.

It was probably sweeter for Wawrinka because he managed to win despite blowing break leads in the first and third sets.

The 2015 champion struck a staggering 87 winners – on the clay, against one of the game’s elite defenders and in windy, tricky conditions. He persevered despite Murray’s splendid retrieving and variety.

There were, as Wawrinka put it, some “crazy rallies.”

“He’s going to do incredible defense, play the right tennis in the right moment,” he said. “That’s why he’s No. 1 in the world.

“So 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, keep trying. I was trying to focus on my game.”

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His task will be even harder in the final, since Nadal hasn’t lost a set and conceded a mere 29 games. Getting to No. 10 would make Nadal the first player in the Open Era to win the same grand slam 10 times.

Nadal certainly won’t be taking Wawrinka lightly Sunday, though: He is a perfect 3-0 in grand slam finals, memorably topping the left-hander to open his account in Melbourne in 2014.

Stopping Wawrinka can be difficult

Wawrinka may have benefited from good fortune in that contest – Nadal sustained a back injury in the warmup and was far from 100% – yet there is no doubting Wawrinka’s ability to blow winners past anyone. He showed that again Friday.

Even if he trails Nadal 15-3 in their head-to-heads, he does possess a victory over him on clay.

“It’s true that when he hits hard, he hits really hard,” said Nadal. “Stopping him can be difficult. I do not want him to play his game, which means I need to make sure I don’t let him be in that position where he can hit hard.”

Besides going for No. 10 in Paris, Nadal – who pulled out of the 2016 French Open with a wrist injury in the first week – is attempting to end a three-year drought in majors. He agonizingly lost to Federer in the Australian Open final, blowing a break lead in the fifth set.

How Wawrinka holds up physically after such a long duel with Murray will no doubt be something to ponder, but he is extremely strong and last year at the US Open defeated Novak Djokovic in the finale after tough matches along the way.

That Wawrinka hadn’t dropped a set prior to the semifinals helped him against Murray. He had the momentum after winning the fourth set and also the fresher legs.

Crucially for Wawrinka, he didn’t waver mentally, after blowing a 5-3 lead in the first set – and holding a set point on his own serve in the first-set tiebreak – and 4-2 in the third.

The fourth set however is the one Murray will rue.

Despite having a 15-30 lead three straight times on the Wawrinka serve, the 2016 finalist failed to break through.

No contest in fifth

After Wawrinka won the fourth-set tiebreak, Murray waned, trailing 4-0 in the fifth in about 20 minutes.

Still he adopted the glass half-full approach, likely mindful of the poor form by his standards he has exhibited in 2017. A bout of the shingles and elbow injury have pegged him back.

“I’m proud of the tournament I had,” Murray said. “I did well considering. You know, I was one tiebreak away from getting to the final when I came in really struggling.

“So I have to be proud of that.”

Murray’s earlier than expected losses heading into the French Open played a part in Friday’s result, he said.

“Maybe the lack of matches hurt me a little bit in the end today. That was a very high intensity match. A lot of long points.

“When you haven’t been playing loads, over four, four-and-a-half hours, that can catch up to you a little bit. So I only have myself to blame for that, for the way I played coming into the tournament.”

Wawrinka surrendering the first set ultimately didn’t affect him but the same couldn’t be said about Thiem.

Indeed it may have only been the first few games, but letting an early lead slip against Nadal was too much for him to overcome.

A lot has changed since a 19-year-old Rafael Nadal became only the second man in history to win Roland Garros at the first attempt. The bulging biceps, long hair and headband remain, but the Spaniard's sense of style has certainly changed.

2005 —

Nadal went into his first French Open as an inexperienced 18-year-old and emerged a grand slam champion -- beating Roger Federer in the semifinals on his 19th birthday. The 2005 season was the birth of what would go on to be Nadal's classic look: sleeveless top and three-quarter length shorts.

2006 —

By the following year, Nadal had cemented his place among tennis' elite and was developing a fearsome reputation on clay. This time wearing a slightly less garish light blue, Nadal picked up his second consecutive French Open title by becoming the first man to beat Roger Federer in a grand slam final.

2007 —

In 2007, the then 20-year-old Nadal's status as the 'King of Clay' was sealed. Defeat to Federer at the Masters Series in Hamburg ended an 81-match unbeaten streak on clay, which remains a men's Open Era record today. At that year's French Open, Nadal opted for the reverse of 2006's top-bandana combo -- this time with matching trainers to boot.

2008 —

A year later, Nadal opted for a variation on his debut French Option look, this time sporting an all-green combo. Nadal reached world No. 1 for the first time in his career in 2008, helped by his fourth consecutive Roland Garros title -- matching Bjorn Borg's record of consecutive trophies, while also becoming only the seventh man to win a grand slam without dropping a set.

2009 —

Nadal's first dramatic transformation came in 2009. Gone were the sleeveless shirts and three-quarter lengths, in came the sleeves and fluorescent, clashing colors. Perhaps it was the sleeves restricting the powerful arms (or maybe a knee injury), but Nadal suffered the first of only two French Open defeats. Despite a shock fourth-round loss to Robin Soderling, Nadal set a record of 31 consecutive wins at Roland Garros.

2010 —

In 2010, Nadal bounced back from the 2009 disappointment with a daring multicolored number. He went on to exact revenge on Soderling, beating him in the final after the Swede had upset Federer in the quarterfinals. Federer's failure to reach the semis meant Nadal regained the world No. 1 spot, while it was also the second time he won the French Open without dropping a set.

2011 —

The following year, Nadal dialed down the brightness, instead choosing to return to one of his earliest Roland Garros styles. And it worked -- he maintained his No. 1 ranking throughout the clay court season and beat perennial rival Federer in the final.

2012 —

Perhaps in an attempt to gain the upper hand on opponents by blending into the clay, Nadal opted for an orange-ish-red look for the first time at the French Open. It appeared to work, as Nadal dropped just 30 games in the first five rounds, before beating Djokovic in four sets in the final to claim his seventh Roland Garros title and surpass Borg as the tournament's most successful player.

2013 —

The 2013 French Open was the debut of Nadal's latest wardrobe change: the short shorts. In an all-Spanish final, Nadal defeated David Ferrer in straight sets -- although bizarrely dropped from fourth in the world to fifth after his victory.

2014 —

Perhaps a sign of entering into his late 20s, Nadal's colors switched from fluorescent to more mellow tones. Despite being hampered by injuries and suffering surprise defeats early in the clay court season, Nadal grinded out arguably his most impressive Roland Garros victory. Another victory in the final against Djokovic took him to 14 grand slams (level with Pete Sampras) and it was his fifth straight French Open triumph.

2015 —

Nadal's struggle to find form continued into 2015's clay court season, dropping outside of the world's top five for the first time since 2005. Looking like an athletic version of the Cookie Monster, Nadal crashed out of the French Open in the quarterfinals to Djokovic. It ended his 39-match unbeaten run and marked just his second defeat on the Parisian clay.

2016 —

The following year, the shorts got even shorter and the two-tone top returned as Nadal exited the French Open in the third round -- although this time it was a wrist injury that defeated him. Despite the disappointment, there was another milestone for Nadal as he became only the eighth man to reach 200 grand slam wins.

2017 —

Nadal debuted his strong blue look against Benoit Paire in the first round and the King of Clay went on to complete "'La Decima" of 10 Roland Garros titles.

French Open: Rafael Nadal's Roland Garros evolution

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He broke for 1-0, only to get broken back immediately. Thiem then earned more break points but couldn’t capitalize, with Nadal then breaking for 3-1. Nadal fended off further break points and held for 4-1.

That was it.

“Sometimes a match changes after the first game in a set,” said the 14-time grand slam winner. “That’s where you can sort of anticipate how the match is going to finish.

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“He had several opportunities today, and he missed them. In the meantime, I played a very solid game. I never let him dominate the game.”

On Sunday Nadal will discover if the numbers add up.