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Rafael Nadal has completed the fairytale, winning his tenth French Open crown without dropping a set as he recorded a triumphant victory over Stan Wawrinka in the final.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Stan Wawrinka 2 3 1
Rafael Nadal 6 6 6
Rafael Nadal will look to complete a triumphant clay court season and take out a tenth French Open crown when he takes on fellow former champion, the cagey Stan Wawrinka. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 11pm (AEST).
Nadal has been incredible throughout the Open. He is still yet to drop a set, and turned it on in the third set of his semi-final, playing possibly his best tennis of the tournament yet.
Wawrinka was playing a similarly high level of tennis, and hadn’t dropped a set before the semi-final, but then ran into the world No.1 Andy Murray.
He had to fight his way out of a hole, going down 2 sets to 1 and looking out of it at the back end of the third, but he did. With his backhand firing on all cylinders, he took the fourth to a tie-breaker and then mentally broke Murray in half.
After more than four hours on court, the fifth got underway and it was never an even contest as Wawrinka narrowly missed winning 6-0, taking it 6-1 instead.
Still, spending four and half hours on court, no matter how much he fights and is mentally strong will hurt Wawrinka.
Nadal hasn’t spent more than two hours on court in any match this tournament, and has a staggering record of 100-2 in five set matches on clay.
It’s unrivalled by any player on any surface, and he put Dominic Thiem to the sword in a way no one thought was possible in the semi-final.
If Nadal can defend Wawrinka’s backhand confidently for the duration of the match and hold his own serve strongly, then there is no reason he won’t breeze through in under two hours ago.
But, the final deserves more than that. Nadal is going for a staggering tenth crown at Roland Garros, Wawrinka a second, but if Wawrinka gets off to a fast start this match will be more even than many think.
Nadal was a little slow out of the blocks against Thiem in the semi-final, showing his first sign of any weakness – albeit a small one – during the tournament.
He was broken in the opening game of the match and struggled to gain the ascendancy, but against the experienced Wawrinka, the question have to be asked if he would be able to bounce back so strongly.
Past form says he would though, with Nadal winning 16 of their previous 19 matches. That includes five of six on clay – but, it should be noted that in their only ever meeting at a grand slam final – the 2014 Australian Open, Wawrinka came away victorious.
Does that play a factor here? Only time will tell, but the history is still stacked against him.
Prediction
Wawrinka is a former champion here, but Nadal is in incredible form. You have to question whether he will drop a set. Wawrinka will go down swinging whichever way you look at it.
Nadal in four sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the 2017 French Open final from 11pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.