French Open 2018: Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem Advance with Ease in Friday Play

The 2018 French Open men's final is officially set, as top-seeded Rafael Nadal and No. 7 Dominic Thiem were victorious in their semifinal matches on Friday.

Nadal made easy work of No. 5 seed Juan Martin del Potro in a 6-4, 6-1, 6-2, win, while Thiem eliminated upstart Italian Marco Cecchinato by a 7-5, 7-6 (10), 6-1, score.

Rafa is in search of his 11th career French Open title and 17th Grand Slam singles title overall, while Thiem will play in his first Grand Slam final.

Here is a full rundown of Friday's results and a closer look at how Nadal and Thiem set the stage for their French Open final encounter.

Men's Semifinals

No. 7 Dominic Thiem def. Marco Cecchinato: 7-5, 7-6 (10), 6-1

No. 1 Rafael Nadal def. No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro: 6-4, 6-1, 6-2

Dominic Thiem Ends Marco Cecchinato's Cinderella Run

Cecchinato entered Friday's semifinal match with momentum on his side after upsetting Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. However, Thiem was the better player in the big moments.

The biggest key was the second-set tiebreak, as Thiem outlasted Cecchinato 12-10 to take a 2-0 lead in sets before steamrolling the unheralded Italian in the third.

Here is a look at the match highlights courtesy of the Roland-Garros Twitter account:

By virtue of his win, Thiem became the youngest Grand Slam men's finalist in four years, according to Jose Morgado of Diario Record:

ESPN Stats & Info added that Thiem is just the second Austrian to reach a Grand Slam singles final and the first in 23 years:

Cecchinato was only able to break Thiem's big serve once in the match, while Thiem broke Cecchinato on four occasions.

Also, while the players had the same amount of unforced errors with 26, Thiem was rewarded for his aggression as he prevailed in the winners battle 37-24.

Additionally, Thiem appeared to benefit from playing and winning a tournament two weeks ago, as pointed out by Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated:

The 24-year-old Thiem is now a Grand Slam finalist for the first time, but he has been trending in this direction for a while.

He made it to the semifinals at the French Open in each of the previous two years and has consistently been on the brink of quarterfinal appearances in all other Grand Slams as well.

Thiem's hard-hitting game plays well on the clay, and with only three sets dropped in the entire tournament thus far, winning his first Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros shouldn't be discounted.

Rafael Nadal Dominated Juan Martin del Potro

Nadal was a heavy favorite Friday due to his dominance on clay over the years, but he still managed to raise some eyebrows by making Del Potro look ordinary.

The Spaniard needed just over two hours to take down the Argentine en route to another French Open final with Thiem waiting in the wings.

Things didn't start out so easily for Nadal, as Del Potro looked strong in the opening set.

Nadal still managed to win it 6-4, and Tom Perrotta of the Wall Street Journal noted how remarkable that feat was:

Rafa took control of the match from there, and he was never truly tested by his opponent thereafter.

It is fair to wonder if Del Potro used up most of what he had in the tank in the first set and in his hard-fought quarterfinal win over third-seeded Marin Cilic.

Regardless, Wertheim marveled at the notion that Nadal easily advanced to the final without playing anything close to his best tennis:

Every stat pointed toward Nadal being the superior player on Friday, though, especially on serve.

Del Potro had seven opportunities to break the Spaniard, but he was never able to. Conversely, Nadal broke Del Potro five times.

Nadal also had 35 winners and 19 unforced errors, while Del Potro finished with 20 winners and 32 unforced errors.

Although Nadal will once again be favored to win in the final, Thiem is arguably the toughest opponent for him. The 32-year-old is just 6-3 against Thiem in his career, and all three of those losses have come on clay.

Thiem beat Nadal in Madrid this year, and he was victorious last year in Rome as well.

Nadal did easily beat Thiem in the semifinals of the 2017 French Open, however, meaning he will have a significant advantage when they collide on Sunday.