Rafa Nadal moved to within one victory of 'La Decima' at the French Open as he demolished rising Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3 6-4 6-0 with a daunting show of force in Friday's semifinal. The 31-year-old Spaniard, ready to reclaim his Roland Garros crown after a two-year hiatus, dispatched the sixth seed in little more than two hours and is on the verge of becoming the first player to win the same grand slam tournament 10 times. He faces Swiss Stan Wawrinka in Sunday's showpiece match. Wawrinka subjected Andy Murray to a barrage of body blows as he broke down the Briton's formidable defenses, twice coming from a set down to win a high-octane contest 6-7(6) 6-3 5-7 7-6(3) 6-1. Thiem, like fourth seed Nadal, had reached the semifinal without dropping a set and had trounced Serbian defending champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. But after starting brightly in the early evening sunshine his challenge disappeared into the encroaching shadows on Court Philippe Chatrier — an arena on which Nadal has never lost a semifinal or final since his debut in 2005. Nadal has dropped only 29 games to reach the final — surpassing his previous best of 35 in 2012 and only two more than Bjorn Borg's record set in 1978. Swedish great Borg might still hold that mark but Nadal has long since left the six-times French Open champion behind in the Roland Garros record books. After Nadal's limp exit to Djokovic in 2015 and the wrist injury that cut short his challenge last year, the Spanish claycourt king looks hungrier than ever to extend his domination on the clay surface where he has no rival. Third seed Wawrinka's earlier epic five-set battle against Murray had delayed Nadal's appearance until nearly 6 p.m. local time and there was a sense of "after the Lord Mayor's show" as the day's second semifinal began. A break for Thiem in the opening game quickly concentrated minds — although any prospect of a tussle to match the drama of the day's first instalment did not last long as Nadal recovered with two breaks of his own to take the opening set. Thiem, whose elegant single-handed backhand had little effect throughout the contest, had break points early in the second set but Nadal slammed the door shut. The Spaniard, whose only defeat on the red dirt this year came against Thiem in Rome, then broke with a clubbing forehand and lost only three more points on serve as he wrapped up the second set. Thiem's hopes of emulating compatriot Thomas Muster's French title in 1995, were over in a flash as Nadal raced through the third set in 28 one-sided minutes. Earlier, the Swiss 2015 champion Wawrinka hit a staggering 87 winners as he avenged last year's semifinal defeat by the world No. 1 to set up a final against Nadal. Murray absorbed everything Wawrinka threw at him for most of the four hour and 34 minute contest but after winning a tense fourth set, Wawrinka steamed ahead in the decider as the Briton's armour was finally pierced. The third seed, at 32 the oldest man to reach the Roland Garros final since Niki Pilic finished runner-up in 1973, was long frustrated by Murray but never lost faith despite seeing his opponent rally back from a break down in the first and third sets. "There are two ways of seeing things and I chose to be positive, knowing that I was dominating," said Wawrinka, who has won the three Grand Slam finals he has played. Murray, who arrived in Paris on the back of a woeful claycourt season, said he could take a lot of positives from his run to the semis. "I'm proud of the tournament I had. I did well considering. I was one tiebreak away from getting to the final," said the Scot, who was runner-up to Novak Djokovic last year. Murray, who like Wawrinka owns three grand slam titles, made only one unforced error in the first seven games. He suffered a bit of a meltdown in the eighth, though, and Wawrinka pounced to steal his serve. On his second opportunity, the Swiss punished Murray for his ill-timed rush to the net with a crosscourt forehand passing shot. Murray broke straight back to eventually force a tiebreak that featured a couple of blazing exchanges that would be in the running for the 'point of the tournament'. After some fast-paced exchanges at the net, Wawrinka moved to set point with a backhand volley but dinked a routine backhand into the net as Murray leveled for 6-6. On the following point, the Scot was forced to defend again and he turned the rally around with a jaw-dropping defensive lob before finishing the point with a forehand winner. The Swiss netted a forehand return as Murray bagged the opening set. Wawrinka did not dwell on that setback and earned three break points in the seventh game of the second set, converting the first with a trademark backhand winner down the line. Murray could not hold his following service game either, and a perfectly-hit inside-out forehand gave Wawrinka the second set. A third consecutive break for Wawrinka earned him a 2-0 lead in the third set as Murray's frustration grew. He regained his composure to dictate the points and break back, but Wawrinka further increased the pressure to break again for 4-2. Murray was back again thanks to a whizzing backhand winner, and he pulled off a decisive break for 6-5, holding to take the lead in the match when Wawrinka netted a backhand. There were no break points in the fourth set, but Wawrinka was simply too good in the tiebreak, taking it with a powerful forehand service return. The decider flashed by in just half an hour as Wawrinka leveled his grand slam win-loss record against Murray to 3-3 with yet another backhand winner. — Reuters
