PARIS, June 10: Rafael Nadal moved to within one victory of �La Decima� at the French Open as he demolished rising Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 with a daunting show of force in Friday�s semifinal.
Nadal is yet to drop a set and has lost just 29 games in six matches � his lowest tally ever and the least since Bjorn Borg in 1978.
Now only Stan Wawrinka remains between the 31-year-old and another record as the first man to reach double digits at a single slam.
Nadal said: �Nine or 10, it�s only 10 per cent more. It�s true that 10 is a beautiful number, but actually my favourite is nine. But for sure it becomes 10.
�I think I don�t make more history. It�s enough. Nine is more than good. Today is not the moment to think about that. It�s the moment I have to be very happy.
�I�ve played a very good event, all the matches playing well. Today was not an exception. I started a little bit more nervous today than normal, but then I played well.
�It�s true that Dominic played with more mistakes than usual probably. At the same time it was windy out there, and he didn�t play on the centre court before that match. Probably that was not helping him.
�In general, to be in the final again here of probably the most important event in my career, it means a lot to me. I�m just very, very happy for everything, and I�m going to try my best on Sunday.�
Thiem went into the match fresh from his stunning upset of defending champion Novak Djokovic and looking for a second successive win against Nadal.
But Philippe Chatrier is the Spaniard�s stage and Thiem found Nadal a very different opponent to the one he met at the Italian Open in Rome last month. � Agencies
