Nadal will be the favorite but Wawrinka has enough weapons in his arsenal to make some damage. The contrast in style should be a recipe for a great championship match.
PARIS – The 2017 French Open hasn’t been a particularly memorable tournament so far, but a great final could completely change this perception. When we look back at Grand Slam tournaments and their place in history, we often remember the championship match and forget about the matches that were played during the two weeks of competition: Our memories are exclusively influenced by what happened on the final day. I think that we will have the opportunity to watch a great final on Sunday, thanks to the contrast in style between Rafa Nadal and Stan Wawrinka. Some of the most memorable finals in recent years were contested by Rafa himself and his long-term rival Roger Federer: A fascinating matchup that perfectly embodied a contrast in style.
In my opinion, Rafa Nadal is undisputedly the greatest clay courter of all time, with Bjorn Borg in second place. Stan Wawrinka reached his second French Open final after prevailing over an extraordinary Andy Murray in a five-set thriller that lasted 4 hours and 34 minutes.
The battle between Nadal’s heavy left-handed forehand and Wawrinka’s spectacular one-handed backhand will be a recipe for great entertainment. Because Nadal’s stroke seems to be a little more solid, Rafa should be considered the favorite. Wawrinka will have to consistently open up the court with his cross-court backhand and then surprise Rafa down-the-line in order to dismantle the Spaniard’s favorite pattern of play. That is what Djokovic used to do when he was consistently beating Nadal on every surface. The Serb could rely on two exceptional groundstrokes, while Nadal mostly relies on his forehand: It was a battle of two great strokes against one.
One of the keys of Sunday’s final could be Rafa’s superior concentration and psychological endurance. When Rafa is confident and physically at his best – which is the case this year – he is virtually unbeatable. Nadal is probably the only player that treats every point with the same focus, it doesn’t matter whether the score is 40-0 or deuce. This is one of his biggest strengths.
If Nadal wins the final, his ten French Open titles will go down in history as one of the biggest and most difficult achievements in sports. It will also be his 15th Grand Slam title, three short of Roger Federer’s 18. Wawrinka is chasing major title No. 4 and has never lost a Grand Slam final in his entire career. The Swiss defeated Nadal for his first title in Australia in 2014, when Rafa’s performance was highly affected by a back injury. The Spaniard could have easily retired from the match, instead he decided to stay on the court and honor a big match that was played in front of a sold-out crowd. A few years earlier, Justine Henin was heavily criticized for retiring from her final match against Amelie Mauresmo when the Frenchwoman was leading 6-1, 2-0. Justine claimed that she had stomach problems.
The semifinal match between Wawrinka and Murray received a well-deserved standing ovation from the French crowd. The two battled for four and a half hours with extraordinary rallies that saw Wawrinka hit through the best defender in today’s game with aggressive and powerful groundstrokes.
Murray was able to retrieve some unbelievable shots and he also threw the kitch and sink at his opponent: Lobs, drop shots, loopy balls and net approaches. He unfortunately didn’t volley very well and wasn’t aggressive enough, as Wawrinka always pushed him way behind the baseline.
“Last year Andy was more aggressive, perhaps he’s lacking a bit of confidence this year,” Stan said in his post-match press conference.
Despite a semifinal loss, Murray showed some substantial progress at Roland Garros. In my opinion, he will be the favorite at Wimbledon, unless Federer rekindles the magical form that he showed in Melbourne, Indian Wells and Miami. On grass – where Murray won two Wimbledon titles and one of his two Olympic Gold medals – Andy’s serve should be more effective and his matches are approached with a more aggressive mindset, while on clay the Scot has the tendency of playing too passively. Despite winning two Wimbledon titles himself, Nadal isn’t very effective on grass, so I don’t think that he should be considered the favorite at SW19. Djokovic seems to be burned out and depressed, so he can’t be considered a real threat at the moment.
Wawrinka’s aggressive shot-making that often pushes his opponents ten feet behind the baseline sometimes reminds of Ivan Lendl’s playing style. The Czech was known for using his powerful serve and heavy topspin forehand to dictate play, and he tremendously improved his topspin backhand throughout his career, which allowed him to hit his opponents off the court with both wings.
Wawrinka massively improved his forehand in the last five years and can now produce five, six, seven heavy strokes in a row until his opponent’s defensive game is completely broken down. In his semi-final against Murray, the Swiss hit an astonishing 87 winners, which eventually forced the Scot to run out of steam in the fifth and final set.
Nadal has only lost 29 games in 6 matches so far, but it will be almost impossible for him to top Bjorn Borg’s achievement in 1978, when the Swede dropped only 32 games in the entire tournament.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com )
