It remains the greatest men's win in a Slam in the last decade; a truly rare story of unlikely triumph.
It was a sign of the 23-year-old's growing maturity on clay in particular. "So it's going to be the toughest match you can imagine". In Rome, he beat Nadal in straight sets, which remains the Spaniard's only defeat on clay this season, but was hammered 6-1, 6-0 by Djokovic in the final. Just ask Djokovic and Nadal himself, the game's two best retrievers, who've recently had no answers to it.
'I think to play Rafa on clay in French Open in a final is probably the biggest challenge you can have in tennis.
In his post-match interview, Djokovic admitted that, "it's a whole new situation that I'm facing". "I will get through it, learn the lessons and figure out how to get out of it", said 30-year-old Djokovic. I feel physically and mentally ready.
That loss had prompted Nadal to admit that Thiem was a definitive "Roland Garros victor, I just hope it is not this year".
World number one Andy Murray recovered from an early scare to cruise through to the semifinals. "So, anyway, you can not avoid it all the time. Hopefully I can take advantage of that and find solutions to beat him".
They can produce terrific exchanges, with Wawrinka ripping his spectacular one-handed backhand and Murray using his tremendous court coverage and defense to extend rallies. "I will concede some winners". The promise of a Nishikori-Cilic semifinal brought back memories of the 2014 US Open, in which the two players surprised the field by taking out every major threat themselves and forming the first finals duo without Federer, Nadal or Djokovic in almost ten (!) years.
Nadal crushes Thiem to set up Wawrinka showdown
That year was incredible because I had so many problems with my knee, so I was not able to practice at all. Open - are printed on the back of his shoes, above the words "Stan" on his left and "The Man" on his right.
Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic is among them, saying: " Dominic Thiem is a guy who is going to win the French Open. That is really what I struggled with and what I found so frustrating a year ago. "But definitely he will". So while his failure to win a set certainly constitutes another worrying moment in the Serb's career, it's not quite as unexpected as a casual tennis fan might expect.
He will have to do all that and more against Nadal, who has dropped only 22 games in five matches on an apparently unstoppable march to a record 10th title.
The level of tennis and tension didn't drop as the match powered on through its fourth hour.
"I'm extremely confident about what I do, about how I feel, about all the hard work I have accomplished over the past days, weeks, months, years", said Wawrinka, victor of a career-best 10 consecutive matches.
"I'm proud of the tournament I had". "He steps into the court and can hit the ball hard". Wawrinka smashed 87 winners, mostly off his forehand to start with before the backhand joined the party in the second set.
"When you're out there on a tennis court, you have to know what makes you good and you have to rely on it". I was not in a position to play the way I wanted to. "I'm feeling like I'm missing consistency", Djokovic said. In the top half of the draw, Andy Murray took out the greatest Japanese player of all time in Kei Nishikori while Stan Wawrinka dismantled the greatest Croatian in Marin Cilic, both in fairly uneven matches.
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