Austrian makes to his first Grand Slam title round

Paris, June 8: Ten- time champion Rafael Nadal reached his 11th French Open final on Friday when he demolished Juan Martin del Potro, setting up a title showdown with Dominic Thiem, the only man to defeat him on clay in the last two years.

Nadal, a 16- time Grand Slam champion, claimed his 85th win in Paris against just two losses after weathering a big- hitting opening from 2009 US Open winner Del Potro to win 6- 4, 6- 1, 6- 2.

In his 24th Grand Slam final, Nadal will face Thiem Dominic Thiem ended Marco Cecchinato’s French Open fairytale, reaching his first Grand Slam final with a 7- 5, 7- 6 ( 12/ 10), 6- 1 victory.

Seventh seed Thiem is the first Austrian to make a final at the majors since Thomas Muster was champion in Paris in 1995.

World 72 Cecchinato had knocked out three seeded players to reach the semifinals, including 12- time major winner Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

He believes he has a particularly powerful weapon on his side — breakfast.

“I need to regenerate and have a good breakfast to keep up my good level.”

“Full power on Sunday,” he added.

Thiem, who was playing in his third successive French Open semifinal, admitted the second set had been a nervy encounter after needing five set points to get through it.

“The big key was the second set,” he said.

“It was a really close tiebreak and I didn’t want that especially after I missed an easy volley at 6/ 4.”

“That was not a nice feeling.”

Cecchinato had never won a Grand Slam match before this year’s Roland Garros but made the semis with a string of stunning wins.

He put out seeded players Pablo Carreno Busta and David Goffin before the seismic shock of knocking out 2016 champion Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

“Today, all day, on Philippe Chatrier, the fans said ‘ Forza, Marco’, so I think this is the best moment for me,” said Cecchinato.

“Against Dominic Thiem, he is top 10, and today all the people were for me,” headded further.

Thiem, who swept past second seed Alexander Zverev in the Last Eight, broke the Italian in the first game.

By the sixth game of the opener, Cecchinato had claimed just one point off the Austrian’s serve.

However, he reclaimed the break in the eighth game before edging ahead to 5- 4.

Thiem was quick to respond, reeling off the next three games to take the set in 46 minutes.

Just as he had against Djokovic, Cecchinato was then locked in another marathon tie- break.

This time, however, he lost it 12/ 10 despite having three set points.

That 61- minute set sucked the life out of the crowd favourite and Thiem pounced, quickly moving to a double break at 5- 0 in the third set.

Cecchinato, whose career was almost derailed two years ago by a match- fixing scandal before his name was cleared, stopped the rot in the sixth game.

But Thiem went for the kill in the seventh game, leaving an emotional Cecchinato to take the applause of the crowd.

Despite the defeat, a cheque for 5,60,000 euros ($ 6,58,000) will help ease the pain as will a move into the top 30 next week.

HALEP SETS SIGHTS ON FRENCH TITLE Simona Halep has been undoubtedly one of the world’s best players since first reaching the French Open final four years ago, but on Saturday the world number one could equal the unwanted Open- era record of most Grand Slam finals without a title.

The 26- year- old has suffered three agonising defeats when one set from glory at the majors, with last year’s loss in Paris after leading Jelena Ostapenko by a set and 0- 3 perhaps the most painful.

Halep will have a fourth opportunity to finally lift a Grand Slam trophy when she faces US Open champion Sloane Stephens in her third Roland Garros final this weekend, having lost a tight match with Maria Sharapova back in 2014.

But she is a humble character and has always insisted that she doesn’t feel under pressure to break her major duck.

“I lost three times until now and no one died, so it will be okay,” she said adding: “But I will be more confident, because I have a lot of experience. But in tennis, you never know, so I will stay chill. “Can we change the subject? Let’s talk outside. It’s beautiful weather.”

“I will play for the fans from all over the world, because I know that many are hoping for me to win this Grand Slam finally,” vowed Halep. — Agencies