Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May- 11 June
Coverage: Listen to live radio commentary and follow text coverage of selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online.
Rafael Nadal has rediscovered his game and his aura, and now he looks ready to take his title back.
The Spaniard, who plays Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals on Friday, is just two wins from a record 10th French Open – ‘La Decima’ – and his first since 2014.
“It’s starting to be the way it was,” Carlos Moya, who joined Nadal’s coaching team in December, told BBC Sport.
“That was one of the things that we wanted back, that the opponent feels he’s playing Nadal again and if they want to beat him, they’re going to have to work really hard.”
They might have to work hard but thus far Nadal’s opponents haven’t had to spend much time on court.
The Spaniard, 31, has been getting them out of there in close to 90 minutes per match, reaching the semi-finals for the loss of just 22 games in five matches – the fewest games lost to this stage of a Grand Slam since best-of-five matches were introduced.
Twelve months ago, Nadal was forced out of the tournament through injury, and two years ago he was brushed aside by Novak Djokovic. In 2017, he has looked unstoppable.
Forehand fires Nadal back to the top
There is no question Nadal has rediscovered his mojo on the clay, but opinion is divided over whether he is back to his very best.
His new coach believes he’s not far away.
“I think he’s really close to 100%,” said Moya. “He’s played some matches this year when his level was really good.
“It’s hard to compare with the old Rafa, but I think if he’s not at the same level, he’s close to that.”
Nadal might be the king of clay but his game looks increasingly like hard-court tennis on the red dirt.
Successful in a stunning 76% of points behind second serves, and 69% of first serves, Nadal is then winning 62% of his points in under four shots, as opposed to just 15% in rallies of more than nine strokes.
And it is his most famous shot that once again dominates Roland Garros.
“He has hit 61 forehand groundstroke winners to the semi-final, with the majority hit straight down the line.”
72% of Nadal’s winners have been hit wide past the opponent’s forehand. 28% went to the backhand side.
70% of those winners to the opponent’s forehand side have been hit straight down the line.
57% have come when he is serving.
56% have been struck with Nadal standing inside the baseline.
30% have come as an approach shot as he moved forward to finish the point.
The image of Nadal might be of long, grinding rallies from deep behind the baseline, but the reality in 2017 is that plan A is stepping in, opening up the court early, running around his backhand and cracking a forehand winner.
Physically fit, confidence returns
Nadal has missed five Grand Slams through injury, and was forced out of last year’s French Open with a wrist problem which saw him also miss Wimbledon and curtail his season after the US Open.
The punishing nature of his baseline game led many to speculate from the early years that his would be a much shorter career than those of his rivals.
However, rested and rehabilitated, he returned at the start of 2017 to reach his first Grand Slam final since 2014 in Australia, before once again dominating the clay-court season.
“I think everybody is a little bit surprised by his performances again, but when he recovers physically 100%, he gets the confidence to fight,” said former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.
“I think being physically fit is the key to his performances right now.
“He had no injuries in the last six months and I think it’s very important for him to feel like this.
“He’s also recovering balls the same as before, impossible points that in the last year maybe we didn’t see from him, because he couldn’t move as well.”
Moya helps smooth transition from Toni
One of the great coach-athlete relationships in sporting history will end this year when Toni Nadal – ‘Uncle Toni’ – steps away from life on the tour.
The 56-year-old, who made the decision to change a natural right-hander to play left-handed, will return to the family’s home of Majorca to concentrate on running his nephew’s tennis academy.
His departure lends an extra dimension to Nadal’s quest for another title at Roland Garros, the place where he and Toni began an extraordinary story 12 years ago.
“He always says one of the biggest things for him is to have his family very close,” said Ferrero.
“So to have his uncle as somebody who is there all the time in important moments, bad times, injuries, everything – of course Toni is one of the important people he’ll always have in his life.”
The succession plan is well under way, however, with former French Open champion Moya brought on board in December.
“It makes me very proud,” said Moya. “I know who I am with, how big in the history of this sport he is, so I try to make the most of every day I have with him.
“It’s been a learning experience for me.”
There were widespread calls for a change in the Nadal team when he went through his prolonged slump, and Ferrero believes Moya’s introduction will bring a new dimension to the coaching set-up.
“To have someone on the team like Carlos, who knows all the time what is going on in the match because he played on the tour, I think it’s very important to have someone who can then go to the locker room and talk about the match,” added Ferrero.
“Rafa can talk with Toni as well but Carlos went through all the matches like he did, so it’s something Rafa didn’t have before.”
Nadal still feeling the nerves
You might think that nine titles and a 77-2 career record would make Nadal stride through the gates of Roland Garros with at least a hint of a swagger.
“I won here nine times,” said the Spaniard, “and every year that I won I was unbelievably happy, but every year that I came back, I was unbelievably nervous.”
If Nadal carries that feeling with him as a matter of course, the looming prospect of making almost unfathomable tennis history must be an added burden.
Victory in Sunday’s final would make him the first player to win any of the Grand Slam titles 10 times in the open era, and only the second ever after Margaret Court’s 11 Australian Open wins.
Nadal at French Open 2017
5 matches
65 forehand winners
78 games won
25 backhand winners
22 games lost
250 baseline points won
76% second serve points won
49 net points won
69% first serve
“La Decima? No, no, no,” said Moya, when asked if it was a subject of discussion in Team Nadal.
“You know that it’s there but it’s coming more from the press and the people and the fans, than from Rafa and his team.
“We know it’s there but we believe also it can add some extra pressure, so we don’t talk about that.
“He probably does feel more pressure at this time of year, especially here.
“Every year he’s coming, he’s defending champion most of the time, or if not he knows it’s the tournament he has the biggest chances to win, so there’s always some extra pressure here.”
Is a 10th title inevitable?
There have been plenty of people keen to re-anoint Nadal as the king of clay based on his resurgence this season, but the real tests still lie ahead.
The average rank of his opponents so far at Roland Garros has been 39, with Roberto Bautista Agut the highest at 18 in the world.
Now comes a step up against Thiem, the young Austrian who inflicted Nadal’s only clay-court defeat of 2017 with a stunning performance in Rome.
Get through that, and he faces a final against world number one Andy Murray or former champion Stan Wawrinka.
So is a Nadal victory inevitable?
“It’s difficult to say,” said seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe.
“That’s why I wanted to see him and Novak play in the semis – we could see is he really playing better than ever?
“Certainly he’s intimidating, there’s no doubt, and he’s the guy to beat. But I don’t think it means it’s over quite yet.”
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: Saturday, 10 June Time: 14:00 BST
Coverage: Live radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 live and online and text updates on the BBC Sport website and app.
Simona Halep and Jelena Ostapenko will meet in Saturday’s French Open final with a first Grand Slam title on the line for both women.
Third seed Halep, who lost to Maria Sharapova in the 2014 final, began this year’s tournament as the favourite.
Victory on Saturday would see the 25-year-old Romanian replace Angelique Kerber as world number one.
Latvian Ostapenko, who turned 20 on Thursday, is ranked 47th and has yet to win a title of any kind.
She has ensured a top-20 place with her run to the final and made history as the first Grand Slam finalist from Latvia.
This year’s tournament saw a quarter-final line-up without any former Grand Slam champions for the first time since 1977.
“Of course, this match is really important, and I will not hide the heaviness that it has,” said Halep.
“Of course it’s going to be a great thing if I can win. But I would like not to think too much, because it puts more pressure on me.”
I’m ready for it – Halep
Halep has been widely viewed as the player with the experience and form to clinch a title seen as there for the taking in the absence of Serena Williams.
The American is awaiting the birth of her first child, while former major winners Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova also missing.
When defending champion Garbine Muguruza, top seed Kerber and clay-court contenders Svetlana Kuznetsova and Sam Stosur lost before the quarter-finals, it left the draw wide open.
Halep was on the brink of defeat against Elina Svitolina when she trailed by a set and 5-1, and then held off a fightback from second seed Karolina Pliskova in the semis.
A professional for 11 years, with 15 WTA titles to her name and on the brink of the number one ranking, Halep now has her best chance to land one of the sports four biggest titles.
“I say always that I play well with the pressure, but now I don’t need it,” said Halep.
“I just take it like a big day, a big match. And definitely I’m ready for it, because I won many matches until now.”
If I play my game, I can win – Ostapenko
Ostapenko has burst out of the pack of potential future stars to become a possible Grand Slam champion in the space of two weeks of brilliant hitting.
Three years after winning junior Wimbledon and joining the senior tour, the Latvian is on the verge of a remarkable triumph.
“Of course I didn’t expect that when I came here,” said Ostapenko. “But every match I was playing better and better.”
Her all-out attacking game has thrilled the Paris crowd and seen off the likes of Sam Stosur, Caroline Wozniacki and, over three sets in the semi-final, Timea Bacsinszky.
She has hit more winners at 245 then any other player in the tournament, man or woman, albeit with a sizeable 217 unforced errors.
“It’s like I cannot play the whole match, like, amazing,” she said. “Sometimes it’s up and down, but I still try to fight and play my game.
“And if I do that, I will get back my game and then it can help me to win.”
Her surprise run has also brought a phone call from Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis.
“He actually called my mom. So that’s what she told me,” she said. “Because nobody knows my phone.”
Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko became the first unseeded woman to reach the French Open final in 34 years by beating Timea Bacsinszky.
The 20-year-old defeated the Swiss 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-3 on Thursday to stay on course for a first WTA title.
Mimi Jausovec was the last unseeded player to reach the French Open final in 1983, losing to Chris Evert.
Ostapenko will play either Czech world number three Karolina Pliskova or Romania’s Simona Halep on Saturday.
World number 47 Ostapenko, who turned 20 on the day of her victory, edged a first-set tiebreak but looked to have lost her way in the second set when she lost four games in a row.
Bacsinszky was knocked out of the tournament at the semi-final stage at Roland Garros in 2015 and appeared determined to avoid the same fate as she comfortably closed out the second set.
But Ostapenko turned on the style in the decisive set, edging ahead at 4-3 with the 15th break of the match before holding for 5-3.
Ostapenko then hit a winning forehand to secure her place in the final, prompting the crowd to sing “happy birthday” as she celebrated the biggest win of her career so far.
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May – 11 June
Coverage: Listen to live radio commentary and follow text coverage of selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online.
Britain’s Andy Murray will try and “find a way to get the win” when he takes on in-form Stan Wawrinka in the French Open semi-finals on Friday.
Murray, the world number one, will meet Swiss third seed Wawrinka in the opening match on Philippe Chatrier Court at 11:45 BST.
It is a repeat of last year’s semi-final, which Murray won before going on to lose in the final.
“Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to win,” said the Scot.
“It’s not always about how well you play or the level that you play at.”
Spain’s nine-time champion Rafael Nadal will play Austrian eighth seed Dominic Thiem in the second semi-final.
Murray, 30, arrived in Paris short of wins after a season interrupted by illness and injury, but has found his form over the course of five matches at Roland Garros.
However, the other three semi-finalists are yet to drop a set, while Murray has lost three so far.
“They are all obviously playing extremely well,” said Murray.
“Rafa’s had a great clay-court season, as has Thiem. Stan, this tournament, has played great. He won in Geneva [before Paris] so is obviously confident.
“I came in playing garbage. I’m the odd one out in the semis, but hopefully I can keep it up.”
It will be the 18th time Murray has played Wawrinka, with the Briton having won both last year’s meetings at the French Open and ATP Finals.
An added dimension to the contest is the fact that both men have won three Grand Slam titles, with Murray yet to win in Australia and France, and Wawrinka missing a Wimbledon victory.
The Swiss, 32, has won majors in each of the last three years and has been in scintillating form, hitting as many forehand winners (70) as Murray in three fewer sets, and six more aces at 30.
“Hopefully a different result,” was Wawrinka’s response when asked to look ahead to a repeat of last year’s semi-final.
“That’s what I expect and I hope.
“I think he’s probably a bit less confident. He’s a bit more hesitant. Hopefully I can take advantage of that and find solutions to beat him.”
Analysis
Seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe:
“Andy’s much tougher to beat in best of five, he’s worked so hard on his conditioning.
“He exerted so much energy and effort to get to number one at the end of last year, I wasn’t surprised that he tailed off for a while.
“I think he’s been pointing towards the French for quite a while and he’s acting like the player that we look at and go ‘that guy’s ranked number one in the world right now.’
“You’ve got to live up to it.”
Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash:
“I think Andy’s done really well. Grand Slams excite him. He puts the hard work in throughout the year.
“Stan’s the guy who’s a danger to everybody.
“Once he gets rolling he can just hit winner after winner and nobody can do anything about it, nobody can stop him.
Coverage: Live radio and text commentary of every Andy Murray match on BBC Radio, the BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app.
Trying to win tournaments I’ve never won before is a huge motivation, but I’m not trying to compete with Stan Wawrinka in terms of the numbers.
I know Stan and I have both won three Grand Slams but I don’t compare myself with other players in that sense. It’s not what I’m playing for.
Over the last few years Stan has played great in the Slams, he’s been very consistent.
In the US Open final last year he definitely deserved to win. I also think when he played the French Open final here with Novak Djokovic, he played extremely well.
He deserves the titles that he’s got but his success doesn’t affect how I feel about mine.
Whether it’s Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak or Stan, I don’t need to think about the amount of Slams they have for any motivation.
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‘Physically I was hampered on the clay’
Four or five years ago, I don’t think anyone would have thought I’d have a chance to win a French Open.
I never would have expected to reach the semis here five times and play in the final at the beginning of my career, no chance.
That doesn’t mean I didn’t think I could play well on this surface.
I do feel like in the middle part of my career, physically I was hampered a bit on the clay. I did struggle a lot with my back for a couple of years and that didn’t help, but I got to the quarter-finals for the first time back in 2009 when I was still pretty young.
I had some chances in that match against Fernando Gonzalez too. I actually watched it back a few weeks ago and I played some good stuff.
It’s always quite interesting to see how your game’s changed, so I just watched some of my matches over the years at the French Open.
I was surprised, because my perception of my clay-court game when I was younger was that it was bad – that I didn’t know what I was doing, didn’t play well, struggled with my movement – but when I actually watched it back I was pretty good!
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‘I’m pumped to be close to a second final’
It’s interesting as athletes how we can view performances very differently at the time, and then with a little bit of distance.
I didn’t feel like I played particularly well against Kei Nishikori on Wednesday, and that might have been the case, but there have been plenty of matches where I thought I played great, and looked back and went ‘wow!’ because it really wasn’t great tennis.
Sometimes your perception can come from what other people are saying about you – that you’re not able to play on clay, or that you’re just not good enough – and it’s important sometimes to get that little bit of distance and then actually watch it back.
At the beginning of the clay-court season we looked at a couple of matches from 2016, because I did feel I played well on the clay last year, and one of those matches was the semi-final against Stan in Paris.
It had nothing to do with a potential rematch, it was just to see what I was doing well and how I would like to play.
Unfortunately that didn’t really transpire at any of the events up until now, but thankfully things are finally coming together.
I feel physically strong and to be in a position now where I could potentially reach a second French Open final in two years is great, I’m pumped about that.
Obviously I want to try and win the tournament now I’m in the semis but it’s going to be bloody hard because of the players that are left.
As we’ve seen so often though, anything can happen over the next few days.
Andy Murray was talking to BBC Sport’s Piers Newbery
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May- 11 June
Coverage: Listen to live radio commentary and follow text coverage of selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online.
John McEnroe described Novak Djokovic’s final-set capitulation at the French Open as “unbelievable” and questioned the 12-time Grand Slam winner’s desire.
The defending champion, 30, lost 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-0 to Austria’s Dominic Thiem – losing a love set at a Slam for the first time since 2005.
The Serb is now without a major title after holding all four 12 months ago.
“It looks like right now that he doesn’t want to be on the court,” said seven-time major champion McEnroe.
“Will he be able to find it? You would think with as much success as he’s had, yes, but when suddenly starts to become a question.”
Djokovic won just eight points and made 12 errors in the final set of his quarter-final, which lasted 20 minutes.
It was only the ninth time he had lost a set to love in his career, and the first at a Grand Slam since he played Gael Monfils at the US Open 12 years ago.
“It’s almost as if you can’t believe what you’re watching and in a match of this magnitude,” McEnroe told Eurosport.
“Both Mats (Wilander) and I can speak from some experience that when you lose that edge, and you think you have everything going your way, neither one of us ever got it back.”
Twelve months on from completing the career Grand Slam in Paris, Djokovic will drop out of the world’s top two for the first time since 2011 in the next rankings.
“For me, it’s a whole new situation that I’m facing,” said the Serb.
“Especially in the last seven, eight months, not winning any tournament, which hasn’t happened in many years.
“I guess you’ve got to go through it, try to learn your lessons and figure out how to get out of it stronger.
“It’s a big challenge, but I’m up for it.”
The 12-time Grand Slam champion alluded to “personal issues” following his shock third-round defeat by Sam Querrey at Wimbledon last year, and injuries then contributed to a drop in form.
Djokovic parted company with his entire coaching team, including former number one Boris Becker and his long-time confidante Marian Vajda, at the end of 2016 in what he described as “shock therapy”.
He has since been working with Spaniard Pepe Imaz, a former world number 146 who runs a tennis academy based around “peace, love and meditation”, as well as his brother, Marko, a former professional.
Djokovic’s damning stats from that final set
9th ‘bagel’ of his career
20 minutes long
8 points won
2 points won on return
0 forehand or backhand winners
12 errors made
25% points won on his second serve (3)
Eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi was added to the team in Paris, although the American was only present for the first three rounds because of prior engagements elsewhere.
“Don’t put Andre in the midst of this,” said Djokovic. “This final set, of course, that’s all me.
“His influence and impact on my game, it’s going to take time.
“It’s not something that comes out in the first week. We have spent seven days together. We just got to know each other.”
The Serb’s next scheduled tournament is Wimbledon, which gets under way on 3 July, and he generally does not play a grass-court warm-up event, but has not ruled out taking a break.
“Trust me, I’m thinking about many things, especially in the last couple months,” said Djokovic.
“I’m just trying to sense what’s the best thing for me now.
“Obviously it’s not an easy decision to make, but I will see how I feel after Roland Garros and then decide what to do next.”
Rafael Nadal has advanced to the French Open semi-finals after fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta withdrew from their last-eight match with an injury.
It was only his second win over Murray, who has since taken his tally to eight victories having beaten Nishikori in the Davis Cup, Olympics and ATP Finals in 2016.
After a slow start to 2017 as he struggled with injuries and illness, the world number one has found his form at Roland Garros.
Impressive wins over Juan Martin del Potro and Karen Khachanov in the last two rounds have suggested Murray is capable of matching last year’s run to the final.
“I’m happy with where my game’s at,” the Scot said after his fourth-round win.
“Everything is going pretty well just now. I’m feeling good going into the middle part of the second week.”
Wednesday’s order of play
Time (BST)
Court Philippe Chatrier
Court Suzanne Lenglen
10:00
Rafael Nadal v Pablo Carreno Busta
Novak Djokovic v Dominic Thiem
13:00
Karolina Pliskova v Caroline Garcia
Simona Halep v Elina Svitolina
15:00 approx
Andy Murray v Kei Nishikori
Stan Wawrinka v Marin Cilic
And the Wimbledon champion does at least remember his New York defeat last year, which came three weeks after he won Olympic gold in Rio.
“I obviously lost against him at the US Open,” Murray said. “He plays well on the clay, obviously, and is very solid off both wings.”
If Murray has had his health issues in 2017, Nishikori has struggled with injuries throughout his career, a right wrist hampering him this season after hip and rib problems in 2016.
The 27-year-old Japanese player has already played one five-set match in Paris and twice lost sets 6-0.
However, he has only spent 20 minutes more on court than Murray, at 11 hours and 24 minutes, and says he will be ready after a day off.
“I think physically, I’m OK,” Nishikori said.
“It’s not easy. Long matches. I’m a little bit sore, but I’m sure it’s going to be okay. I have one day rest [on Tuesday].
“I’ll try to be physically ready for a long, tough match.”
Analysis
BBC Sport tennis correspondent Russell Fuller at Roland Garros
Murray has an excellent record against Nishikori, but will still have vivid memories of the defeat he suffered at last year’s US Open.
The Japanese won the deciding set of their quarter-final 7-5: Murray had led by two sets to one but became distracted by a malfunctioning sound system and a yellow butterfly.
Nishikori has had a more gruelling passage to the last eight: he has twice lost a set 6-0, appears hindered by back trouble and will need to play as he did in New York to topple the rapidly improving world number one.
