Posted June 10, 2017 09:14:41

Photo: Stan Wawrinka outlasted Andy Murray in five sets to reach the French Open final. (AP: David Vincent)

Stan Wawrinka's crunching groundstrokes have won him his five-setter at Roland Garros against world number one Andy Murray, to set up a French Open final against Rafael Nadal.

For much of their four-and-a-half hours of compelling, lengthy and draining points, Murray was up to the task, relentlessly defending and making Wawrinka hit shot after shot after shot.

Eventually, however, the resolute Wawrinka prevailed. Forced to come back twice from a set behind, and never easing up on his go-for-it, attacking style, 2015 champion Wawrinka at last pulled away to beat Murray 6-7 (8/6), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 and become the oldest men's finalist at Roland Garros in 44 years.

"You expect him to hit a lot of balls, for sure. I wasn't always happy with that," Wawrinka said through a grin.

"You know what his game is, you know how well he can play, and you need to accept it. You need to, as I say, keep pushing yourself."

Now comes an even tougher task, something the number three-seeded Wawrinka, a 32-year-old from Switzerland nicknamed "Stan the Man," called "probably the biggest challenge you can have in tennis".

That challenge is the master of claycourt tennis, Nadal.

Photo: Rafael Nadal will be seeking "La Decima" (a 10th win) after his French Open victory over Dominic Thiem. (AP: David Vincent)

Nadal reached his 10th final at his favourite tournament — his win-loss record is 9-0 so far — by overwhelming number six Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 in barely 2 hours.

Nadal has lost a total of 29 games through six matches, back to his dominating best on clay after withdrawing from the French Open before the third round a year ago with an injured left wrist.

It will be Nadal's 22nd Grand Slam final overall, breaking a tie with Novak Djokovic for second behind Roger Federer's 28. If Nadal wins the championship on Sunday, it will be his 15th at a major, breaking a tie with Pete Sampras for second behind Federer's 18.

Wawrinka, meanwhile, heads to his fourth Grand Slam final. He has won the previous three, beating Nadal at the Australian Open in 2014, and Djokovic at Roland Garros two years ago and the U.S. Open last September.

"I'm extremely confident about what I do, about how I feel, about all the hard work I have accomplished over the past days, weeks, months, years," said Wawrinka, winner of a career-best 10 consecutive matches.

"I know that mentally, when I'm there, it's difficult to beat me."

A year ago at the French Open, Wawrinka lost to Murray in the semi-finals. This time, Wawrinka wore down the seemingly tireless Murray, also a three-time major champion.

Wawrinka used his sublime one-handed backhand and hammer of a forehand to send Murray scrambling and sliding all over Court Philippe Chatrier.

Murray would lean, or even lunge, and somehow put his racket strings on seemingly unreachable shots. He used plenty of drop shots and lobs. He retrieved overheads.

But make no mistake: Wawrinka does not discourage easily. He is the oldest man in a French Open title match since Niki Pilic was 33 when he was the runner-up to Ilie Nastase in 1973.

Photo: Andy Murray was worn down by the relentless play of Stan Wawrinka in their semi-final. (AP: Petr David Josek)

By the anticlimactic close of what Murray termed "a very high-intensity match," he was complaining aloud about having "no legs."

So Wawrinka ran away with the fifth set, taking 16 of the first 21 points and going up 5-0. He capped it, appropriately, with a backhand down the line, his 87th winner of the day, 51 more than Murray.

Wawrinka pointed to his right temple, as he often does to celebrate success on key points, and was on his way to the final. Nadal awaits.

AP

Topics: sport, tennis, france