STAN WAWRINKA, RAFA NADAL SET UP BLOCKBUSTER 2017 FRENCH OPEN TENNIS FINAL

Written by: Staff on 9th June 2017

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

STAN WAWRINKA, RAFA NADAL SET UP BLOCKBUSTER 2017 FRENCH OPEN TENNIS FINAL

epa06018876 The shadow of Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in action against Andy Murray of Britain during their men?s singles semi final match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 09 June 2017. EPA/TATYANA ZENKOVICH |

By Ricky Dimon AKA “@Dimonator”

Sunday’s French Open final will be a battle between two men who have combined for 10 titles at this event and 17 Grand Slam wins overall.

Rafael Nadal has accounted for most of those, with nine triumphs at Roland Garros and 14 slams. Stan Wawrinka, however, is no slouch in the department of career accolades. He has won three different majors once apiece: the French Open, the Australian Open, and the U.S. Open.

The two future Hall of Famers will be battling for the Coupe des Mousquetairs after they scored respective semifinal victories on Friday. Wawrinka overcame Andy Murray 6-7(6), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-1, while Nadal blitzed Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, 6-0.

Wawrinka vs. Murray was the longest match of the tournament at four hours and 34 minutes. The final set, however, lacked the drama of the first four. Murray found himself within one tiebreaker of crossing the finish line, but it all went downhill for the top-ranked Scot once he dropped the fourth.

“He played better in that set,” Murray admitted. “I lost a little bit of speed on my serve which wasn’t allowing me to dictate many points on my own serve. Yeah, that was it. I mean, he obviously hit some greats shots in the fifth, but I didn’t keep the score close enough to sort of put him under pressure. It’s a lot harder to pull off some of the shots that he was hitting at the end if the score was a bit closer, and wasn’t able to do that.”

Andy Murray of Britain in action against Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland during their men’s singles semi final match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 09 June 2017. EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT

“I think it was mentally a tough battle today,” Wawrinka reflected, “especially in five sets against Andy. “But I’m happy with what I did on the court, the way I was fighting, even if I was down. The way I was trying to keep being aggressive, keep going even if I lost a lot of points by some incredible defense from him.

“You know what’s happening when you play in [a Grand Slam semifinal]. You have to accept it. You just need to keep fighting and keep going for it.”

Nadal, on the other hand, was not tested in the day’s second semifinal–just as he wasn’t in the first round, the second round, the third round, the fourth round, and the quarterfinals.

The fourth-ranked Spaniard swept aside Thiem in just two hours and seven minutes. That Nadal committed 12 fewer unforced errors than the 23-year-old Austrian is no surprise, but he even struck more winners (23 to 21).

“Before [the third set] was I think a good match,” Nadal commented. “He was a little bit unlucky, in my opinion. He had 15-40, 1-all, 15-40, 3-1 for me, 15-40 for him. So he didn’t convert the chances and completely (changed) the match.

“[In] these kind of matches, (if) you don’t get that opportunities then you are in trouble. He had opportunities in the first, opportunities at the beginning of the second, and then I think I played well.I played a solid match and (it) was tougher for him.”

“Today I was not able to produce my best tennis at all,” Thiem lamented. “But it doesn’t have to do anything with this stage or with the occasion, because I also played bad matches in different tournaments in earlier rounds. So it doesn’t have to do anything with the occasion or that it was a Grand Slam semifinal here on the center court.”

Nadal will be back Court Philippe Chatrier on Sunday, when he will face Wawrinka for the 19th time in their careers. The No. 4 seed is leading their head-to-head history 15-3.