Rafael Nadal is back in the French Open final—and at 31, playing better than ever

At 31 and into his 10th French Open final, Rafael Nadal is playing the best French Open of his career.

PARIS – When the competition started, this juggernaut was the overwhelming favorite to take the title. So much so that fans complained that drama might be bleached from the event. A stretch of unrivaled excellence ensued, a trance of greatness, blow-outs that put the superpower’s various gifts on display. And with one assignation left, the coronation seems less a matter of “if” than of “how.” We speak not of the Golden State Warriors, but of Rafael Nadal at the 2017 French Open.

Nadal blazed his usual trail of destruction through the clay season, winning three titles and losing just one match. That defeat came at the hands (or hand) of Dominic Thiem of Austria. As such, Thiem was thought to represent the best chance of thwarting Nadal’s bid for a 10th French Open title. It seemed all the more possible when Thiem beat Novak Djokovic, the former champ, in the quarterfinals. How dizzyingly high a level has Nadal performed at the French Open? Thiem was less his opponent today than a non-consenting patsy. Nadal broke him and beat him and won 6-3, 6-4, 6-0, a match somehow less close than the lop-sided score indicated.

Rafael Nadal cruises past Dominic Thiem into 10th French Open final

At 31, Nadal is playing perhaps the finest French Open of his career—which is saying something. He has yet to drop a set. He is winning a higher percentage of his second serve points than his first serve points. He has been playing at an uncharacteristically rapid pace, as if in a rush to get back on the major board for the first time in three years. Now, he’s three sets away.