The only time Wawrinka matched Nadal's strokes was in the early part of the first set in when he held the first two service games and had a break point in the third game.
The Spaniard and the Swiss are the first pair of 30-somethings to contest a final at Roland Garros since 30-year-old Rod Laver beat 34-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1969.
Nadal is now second on the list of most Grand Slam titles - behind Roger Federer - and climbs to second in the world rankings.
Nadal was not giving Thiem the chance to show any of the kind of tennis that saw him storm to a straight-sets win over Djokovic in the last eight and a break in the opening game of the third came as another blow to the Austrian's fast-disappearing chances of a maiden grand slam final appearance. It's true that 10 is a lovely number, but actually my favourite is nine.
Wilander said Nadal's resurgence since pulling out of the French Open previous year with a wrist injury - he also reached the Australian Open final and is back at number two in the rankings - is down to former world number one Carlos Moya joining his team.
What lay in Nadal's favour is that he hasn't dropped a set in this tournament and has given away just 29 games so far, in his march to the final. "This is the most important event in my career". "That's the only thing that really matters".
Nadal improved to 79-2 at the French Open, 102-2 in all best-of-five-set matches on clay.
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"For me to be here for many years is hard to describe". His fearless play has earned him the nickname "Stanimal" and here are the reasons why he's a big threat come Sunday.
Gustavo Kuerten has been given his Hall of Fame ring in a ceremony marking 20 years since the Brazilian won his first French Open title. "He's playing aggressively and he's defending well". Nadal has a 6-1 win-loss record against Wawrinka on clay, with his only defeat coming at 2015 Rome-1000. He'd won just 2 matches out of 5 on the dirt before entering his home tournament in Geneva. Serving to salvage something from the first set, Wawrinka struggled against Nadal's forehand as the nine-time victor brought up his first set point of the game.
The No. 4-seeded Nadal is bidding for his record 10th title in Paris and his 15th Grand Slam title overall.
"Nothing to say about today", Wawrinka told Nadal during the trophy ceremony.
Telling Words: "I played at the maximum of my power, my strength, and my capability, but Rafa was the best player". In his thirteen appearances at Roland Garros, he has amassed ten titles. He won four consecutive tiebreaks before Friday semi-final, which he entered without dropping a set to solid clay courters & tricky opponents like Dolgopolov, Fognini & Monfils. The pressure is on both players. Only one of many examples of Nadal's ability to go from defense to offense in a blink. "That's for sure", said Wawrinka, who had won 11 matches in a row on clay.
Afterward, Nadal said about Djokovic: "He deserves to win this tournament". "Revenge is not part of my vocabulary", he said.
Telling Words: "When I think of all that Rafael has done, I don't understand it". In my mind, each match is different. If not, I'm going to be in big trouble. "The best player will win".
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