Rafael Nadal overwhelms Dominic Thiem to reach French Open final

It was not perfect but, as Rafael Nadal trounced Dominic Thiem for the loss of seven games on Friday night to reach his 10th French Open final, there was definitely an element of master against pupil as the man who would be clay-court king was crushed by the man who has worn the crown for more than a decade. Thiem had given notice that he might be ready when he beat the defending champion, Novak Djokovic, in the previous round but beating Nadal in his back garden was a mountain too far and the Spaniard romped to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 victory to reach the final without losing a set.

It was not just that. His total of 29 games dropped is the fewest he has ever achieved at Roland Garros and the fewest anyone has managed since Bjorn Borg conceded only 27 on his way to the final in 1978. On that occasion Borg went on to overwhelm Guillermo Vilas for the loss of only five more and, though Stan Wawrinka, who outlasted Andy Murray in five gruelling sets in the opening semi-final, is likely to put up far more resistance, the bad news for the Swiss is that Nadal is fresh and eager to complete La Decima with a record 10th French Open crown.

“It’s true I have been having a great tournament,” said Nadal, who went on to praise the 23-year-old Thiem, who was given a warm round of applause, despite one or two whistles as he faded in the third set. “But Stan is playing unbelievable so it’s going to be a very tough match. I saw him hitting the ball so hard, so I am going to have to play my best match.”

The really bad news for Wawrinka is that Nadal did not even play at his best, mostly because he did not have to. Thiem began well by breaking Nadal in the first game as the Spaniard threw in some uncharacteristic errors but for the most part he struggled to find the balance between attack and control. On the occasions when he did have chances, as he did twice in the first set, in the third and fifth games when he had 15-40 on the Nadal serve, the nine-times champion served smartly, away from the Thiem backhand, and forced the Austrian into errors.

Thiem’s coach, Gunter Bresnik, had told anyone willing to listen here that he felt the Austrian was maybe a year away from winning his first major, mostly because to do so here he would need to have beaten Djokovic, Nadal and then, at the time he was speaking, either Wawrinka or Murray. Even though he was appearing in the semi-finals for a second straight year, there had to be a good chance he would suffer from an emotional let-down after beating Djokovic and so it proved as he was unable to produce the stunning level of tennis that had accounted for the Serb.

Having broken for 3-1, Nadal held the advantage through the rest of the first set. Nadal hit a beautiful topspin lob, a shot he rarely uses, to begin the second set and, despite dropping the ball short more often than in his previous matches, he always seemed to have another gear. Breaking for 2-1, he was efficient behind his serve for the rest of the set as he moved ahead by two sets to love.

Nadal has lost from two sets up only twice in his career and certainly not on clay, so Thiem’s only hope seemed likely to be a bit of complacency. But with time running out fast, thanks to the length of the Murray-Wawrinka match, the 31-year-old was in no mood to let up. Another forehand long – one of 34 unforced errors in all by the Austrian – handed Nadal the break in the first game of the third and a forehand winner gave him a second break for 3-0. The French crowd, who can be hyper-critical when they think someone is not competitive, even when they are trying as hard as Thiem was, got on his back as he crumbled to 5-0 with another service break and, though he had 0-30 in the sixth game, Nadal closed him out to complete another routine victory.

Three years after the most recent of his French Open wins Nadal is back in the final again and, even though Wawrinka has won all three of his previous grand slam finals, it will be a brave person who bets against Nadal making it 10 on Sunday.