After two contrasting semifinal matches in Roland Garros on Friday, the men’s final has been decided. Rafael Nadal will bid for an historic tenth title at the French Open against former champion Stan Wawrinka. On the other hand, Andy Murray and Dominic Thiem will now switch their attention to their upcoming grass court season. On a day full of highs and lows, below are some of the things the players said following their match.
“Maybe the lack of matches hurt me a little bit in the end today. That was a very high intensity match. A lot of long points. When you haven’t been playing loads over four, four-and-a-half hours, that can catch up to you a little bit. So I only have myself to blame for that, for the way I played coming into the tournament.”
Murray after losing a four-and-a-half hour marathon match against Wawrinka. At this year’s French Open, he won five consecutive matches. This is more than what he won in all four tournaments prior to Roland Garros combined.
“Today I was not able to produce my best tennis at all. 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 centre court.”
Thiem tries to play down the motion that he crumbled under the pressure of playing in a grand slam semifinal. Against Nadal, the Austrian produced three double faults and 34 unforced errors.
“We had some crazy points with some good rallies, with some good level of tennis. And to play a semifinal here, French Open against Andy, No. 1 in the world, that’s something really special, so for sure I enjoy it.”
Wawrinka on why he relished playing the world No.1 in the last four of the tournament.
“I don’t care about the games I lost or not, or sets or these kind of things. The only thing I care is I have been playing very well during the whole event, and I was able to win all the matches. That’s the only thing that really matters.”
A somewhat blunt response given by Nadal when asked if he was surprised about dropping only 29 games on route to the final. Bjorn Borg holds the all-time record of dropping just 27 games on route to the 1977 final.
“I don’t know how close I am to that. I played pretty well these last few matches. Even when you’re playing well, you’re not going to win every match you play, but I put myself in a position to reach a slam final, so I’m obviously playing pretty good.”
Murray’s upbeat response when asked about his current form. So far this year he has only managed to win one title on the ATP Tour. This is a sharp contrast to 2016, where he won eight trophies within a six-month period (June-December).
“I think to play Rafa on clay in French Open in a final is probably the biggest challenge you can have in tennis. He’s the best player ever on clay.”
Wawrinka on facing Nadal, a player he has only beaten three times in their 18 meetings.
“I do not want him to play his game, which means I need to make sure I don’t let him be in that position where he can hit hard. I will have to do everything I can to keep him from playing aggressively. If I can play long balls, if I can hit hard, if I can do that, well, I think I will be hopefully able to control him.”
Nadal’s plan for his final showdown against Wawrinka.
