French Open 2017 Final : Rafael Nadal beats Stan Wawrinka in stunning win

Nadal is on his back on the clay in sheer elation. He deserves every moment of this. Sensational performance.

“This is an incredible place and it was an incredible final,” Nadal says.

“It was a very special final. Thank you so much to everyone.

“This is very emotional for me and my French is very bad.

“At the moment, it’s even worse because I am emotional.”

Nadal 6-2, 6-3, 5-1 Wawrinka*: Nadal holds to love. They can probably start engraving the Spaniard’s name now. I would have started a week ago.

*Nadal 6-2, 6-3, 4-1 Wawrinka: Stan finally wins one of the long points and the Swiss milks the applause, asking for more from the Parisians.

They respond because for everything Nadal has thrown at him, Wawrinka has never given up. The game seems won but Nadal’s defence forces Wawrinka to miss an overhead and two points later he’s broken again. Relentless from Nadal.

Nadal 6-2, 6-3, 3-1 Wawrinka*: Simply brilliant from Nadal. Stan gets a sniff at 0-30 and puts the perfect return onto Nadal’s backhand – or so he thinks.

Instead, the Spaniard skips around the court like a fleet-footed teenager avoided his mother’s hug, unfurling an inside-out forehand winner to rival any shot in the last two weeks.

He subsequently holds and this is a procession now. A glorious one but a procession nevertheless.

*Nadal 6-2, 6-3, 2-1 Wawrinka: Nothing comes easy against Nadal and Wawrinka gets a hard-earned service game to get on the board in the third set.

Nadal 6-2, 6-3, 2-0 Wawrinka*: Nadal holds to love, including a 99mph winner with his forehand.

He’s playing at a level no-one in the world – possibly ever – can match. Poor Stan. I might as well be there at the moment. Neither of us are going to get a racquet on much.

*Nadal 6-2, 6-3, 1-0 Wawrinka: See that wall? Can you see any writing on it? Yup – me too.

This is close to curtains for Wawrinka as he is broken in more ways than one.

If it was tough before, it’s going to be near-impossible now. Stan misses a couple of shots he feels he should have made and destroys the racquet responsible at set point. The new one does nothing for him and he will have to go to five if he wants to win this French Open.

*Nadal 6-2, 5-3 Wawrinka: Stan has never lost a Grand Slam final and he’s not ready to give that record up any time soon.

Even at 0-30 down on his serve, he goes for it all on second serve and wins four straight points to make Nadal serve for the second set.

Nadal 6-2, 5-2 Wawrinka*: Nadal’s fourth ace seals the game to love after Wawrinka resorted to a forehand drop shot in an effort to disrupt the Spaniard but it’s to no avail.

It’s pretty hard to see how Nadal isn’t going to cruise to this title. Phenomenal tennis.

*Nadal 6-2, 4-2 Wawrinka: Stan is all but walking to his chair at 40-15 after hitting a perfect crosscourt backhand, only for Nadal to hammered a forehand from wide into the corner of the court down the line.

The Swiss applauds the shot, as does everyone in a two-mile radius. Wawrinka still holds but Nadal has got so, so much firepower here.

The Spaniard has taken eight of the last nine.

*Nadal 6-2, 3-1 Wawrinka: That’s better from the Swiss. He’s got his serve and backhand going and looks a little more able to hurt Nadal.

That said, he’s got a heck of a job on to overhaul the nine-time champion here.

Nadal 6-2, 3-0 Wawrinka*: Not much of a dent in that game for Stan although his backhand is heating up.

Down a set and a break, it needs to.

*Nadal 6-2, 2-0 Wawrinka: This is starting to get away from Stan and all he can do is give his box a wry smile.

We always take about Nadal’s forehand but his backhand is doing a lot of damage here and that’s what forces the break of serve, to love. Ouch.

Nadal 6-2, 1-0 Wawrinka*: Stan starts the set with a stunning forehand winner behind Nadal but it’s only the very best shots that are winning him points at the moment.

It must be soul-destroying to know you have to hit two or three winners for every solitary point.

This has not gone how “Stan the Man”, as his trainers sport, would have hoped. Nadal breaks him again to take the first set with relative ease.

Wawrinka has pushed him pretty deep behind the baseline but even from that far back in the clay, Nadal is still very hard to play against.

Nadal 5-2 Wawrinka*: The Spaniard consolidates, sealing the game with a lovely check volley.

He’s now just a game away from taking the first set.

*Nadal 4-2 Wawrinka: All of a sudden, Wawrinka is facing three break points. He manages to save the third, the fourth of the set, but the fifth is one too many and he nets a slice backhand.

First blood to Nadal in Paris.

Nadal 3-2 Wawrinka*: A couple of Wawrinka winners keep Rafa honest but otherwise we remain on serve in this first set of the final.

He is forced to save three more break points – one with a 96 mph forehand – and at last manages to hold. 23 minutes in and it’s two games a piece.

But the backhand return flies long and Nadal gets out of the game unscathed.

*Nadal 1-1 Wawrinka: Stan is similarly untroubled in his opening service game and he is already starting to show off those massive groundstrokes that sent Andy Murray packing in the semi-final.

Nadal 1-0 Wawrinka*: A fairly comfortable hold for the king. The young pretender (who is 32…) up to serve next.

2.15pm: The knocking up is done – Nadal to serve first…

1.45pm: The players are expected out at 2pm in Paris. This is very much Nadal’s kingdom. He has won nine Roland Garros singles titles – his first coming in 2005.

Wawrinka was also on tour in 2005. In fact he made his French Open debut that year. He crashed out in the third round to Argentina’s Mariano Puerta… who lost in the final to Nadal.

There’s some weird ballboy/girl opening ceremony going on down on Court Philippe Chatrier. Hopefully it’s doesn’t take long and the action can begin!

Rafa Nadal is the punters’ favourite heading into this clash. He is the kind of clay after all!

But Stan Wawrinka has proven his worth in this tournament, having beaten Andy Murray in a five-set epic two days ago.

Yesterday saw Jelena Ostapenko upset to odds with a thrilling three-set victory over Simona Halep in the women’s final.