CHAMP NADAL’S A POT SMASHER

RAFAEL NADAL powered his way into the French Open final with a straightsets win over Juan Martin del Potro.

Now only Dominic Thiem stands in the way of Nadal and what seems an inevitable 11th Roland Garros title.

The Spanish world No.1 edged a tight first set, but then blew away Del Potro.

Nadal (below) emerged the 6-4 6-1 6-2 victor and his record at Roland Garros now stands at 85 wins and two defeats.

One of those victories came against Thiem in last year’s semi-final and was, if anything, more comprehensive than this one. But Thiem did beat Nadal on the clay of Madrid last month.

Ominously for Thiem, Nadal said: “I have to improve a little bit. I believe I can be ready for that final. It’s going to be a tough one, but I will fight all the way.”

Earlier, Thiem (above) survived a bout of the jitters to see off Marco Cecchinato and reach his first Grand Slam final.

The Austrian was in control of his semi-final against the world No.72, holding three set points in a tie-break for a 2-0 lead. But having squandered one set point, he went in for a simple backhand volley winner only to dump it into the net.

A third quickly disappeared as well and Cecchinato had set points of his own, but Thiem finally put the Italian away before going on to win 7-5 7-6 6-1. “The key was the second set because it was a close tie-break,” said Thiem, 24. “I missed an easy volley at one moment, which was not a nice feeling.”

Romanian World No.1 Simona Halep has another chance to land her first Grand Slam when she faces Sloane Stephens of the USA in today’s women final.