Rafael Nadal Defeats Dominic Thiem to Advance to 2017 French Open Final

Rafael Nadal is one win away from his 10th French Open championship after earning a 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 semifinal victory over Dominic Thiem on Friday at Stade Roland Garros in Paris.

Nadal, who already owns the major tournament's record for most titles, heads into the 2017 final without having dropped a single set through his first six matches. It's a return to form for the King of Clay after failing to advance beyond the quarterfinals the last two years.

He'll face off with Stan Wawrinka on Sunday for the trophy. He should be the far more rested player after the Swiss sensation was forced to survive a five-set marathon with Andy Murray earlier Friday.

Jon Wertheim‏ of Sports Illustrated commented on the one-sided result:

It's hard to quantify a healthy Nadal's greatness on clay because there's never been anything quite like it in the history of tennis.

The 31-year-old Spanish fan favorite was supposed to face a serious test in the semis. Not only did Thiem follow in his footsteps by reaching the penultimate round without losing a set, but he handed Nadal his only clay-court loss of the season at the Italian Open in Rome.

Instead, the nine-time French Open champion never appeared the least bit threatened Friday en route to another straight-sets triumph on the red clay of Roland Garros.

He won 71 percent of the points on his first serve and 76 percent on his second serve. He converted six of his 10 break-point chances. And, when all else failed, he forced the 23-year-old Austrian rising star to run until he had nothing left in the tank.

Christopher Clarey of the New York Times noted the sense of dejection from Thiem after losing the second set:

While it won't be much consolation for Thiem in the short term, losing to Nadal on this stage is the ultimate learning experience. It represents a chance to realize exactly what it's going to take to eventually break through to win his first Grand Slam title.

The seventh-ranked player in the world talked about the ridiculously difficult climb to the mountaintop after upsetting Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, per Kamakshi Tandon of Tennis.com.

"It's a joke, how tough it is to win a Slam," Thiem said. "Obviously now I beat Novak, but on Friday it is Nadal—the toughest opponent ever here in Roland Garros. Then, in the finals, there is another top star. That's why it's a Slam, it is because it's such a tough achievement."

Meanwhile, Nadal will now shift his focus to reaching a double-digit French Open title count. His dominance on clay combined with a 15-3 record against Wawrinka will make him the prohibitive favorite heading into Sunday's clash.

Matt Cronin‏ of the Tennis Reporters doesn't think the result is a foregone conclusion, though:

The biggest key for Wawrinka will be trying to shorten the points, especially in the first few sets. He can't get caught in an extended, grind-out-every-point duel with Nadal and expect to win given how much time he spent on the court against Murray.

That said, if the greatest clay-court player ever shows up Sunday in top form, how the underdog performs won't matter. Nadal will capture his 10th championship at Roland Garros.