GRANDSTAN FINISH
Rafa has battle
IT has been a breeze for Rafa Nadal so far at this year’s French Open – but a storm is brewing.
Even by the Spaniard’s ridiculously high standards at a tournament where he has won 78 of his 80 matches since bounding into town like a runaway bull in 2005, the way he has reached a 10th final has been astonishing.
Nadal, 31, has not conceded a set and dropped only 29 games in six rounds – two more than Bjorn Borg’s 1978 record when he destroyed Guillermo Vilas in the final.
Yet standing in the way of the Mallorcan from becoming the first player in the professional era to win the same Grand Slam title 10 times is a highly-destructive Swiss – not 18-times major winner Roger Federer but Stan Wawrinka.
Wawrinka (right) was at his best against world No.1 Andy Murray in a se m i - f i n a l cl a s s i c, striking 87 winners in a five-set duel that would have graced any final.
The Swiss, 32, has won all three Grand Slam finals he has been in and possesses the baseline firepower Nadal has not faced in the past fortnight.
Described as ‘scary’ by three-times Grand Slam champ Mats Wilander, Wawrinka will not take a backwards step on Court Philippe Chatrier today when the temperatures are expected to soar into the 80s.
Should the underdog repeat his scintillating 2015 victory over Novak Djokovic he would become the oldest man to win the title since 34-year-old Andres Gimeno in 1972.
The last Grand Slam clash between the pair came at Melbourne in 2014 when Wawrinka beat a hobbling Nadal to claim his first major title.
It was a breakthrough moment for the Swiss – and he has continued to impress for the past three years.
He said: “Mentally I’ve become a different player. When I arrive in a big match, it’s like closing, switching off everything in my body except my brain which I put in winning mode. “Rafa’s track record on clay is amazing. He’s the best player we have ever had so, of course, I can lose. But I’m extremely confident too.” Nadal, who tops the match-wins list this year with a 42- 6 record, including a 23-1 stretch on clay, knows the threat. He said: “It’s true when he hits hard, he hits really hard. Stopping him can be difficult which means I need to make sure I don’t let him be in that position where he can hit hard.”