French Open final: Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka reveling in the age of tennis' golden oldies

The pair will be the first 30-somethings to contest a final at Roland Garros since 1969

Rafael Nadal is in supreme form, having only dropped only 29 games so far (Getty)

Tennis used to be a young man’s game, but this is the age of the 30-something. Those who viewed this year’s Australian Open final between 35-year-old Roger Federer and 30-year-old Rafael Nadal as a one-off need to think again. Nadal, now 31, is through to his 22nd Grand Slam final, where his opponent here at the French Open on Sunday will be 32-year-old Stan Wawrinka.

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. Wawrinka is the oldest male finalist here since 33-year-old Niki Pilic in 1973.

If Wawrinka wins he will become the oldest champion in Paris since 34-year-old Andres Gimeno in 1972 and will be only the third man in the Open era, after Laver and Rosewall, to win three or more Grand Slam titles after turning 30.

Nadal won the first of his record nine Roland Garros titles in 2005 just two days after his 19th birthday, but Wawrinka has been a late developer. The Swiss won the first of his three Grand Slam titles two months before his 29th birthday in 2014 and has remained a consistent challenger for the game’s biggest honours ever since.

No man has ever won 10 titles at the same Grand Slam event, but Nadal says he is not thinking about making history. “Nine titles are more than enough,” he said, before adding with a smile: “Ten is only 10 per cent more than nine. It’s true that 10 is a beautiful number, but actually my favourite is nine. But for sure 10 can become my favourite number.”

The former world No 1 also insists he is paying no attention to the fact that he has dropped only 29 games en route to the final. In the Open era the only men who have conceded fewer games before a Grand Slam final are Guillermo Vilas, who dropped 26 in reaching the US Open final in 1977 (when matches were played over the best of three sets in the first four rounds), and Bjorn Borg, who lost 27 en route to the 1978 final here.

“I don't care about the games I lost or not, or sets or these kind of things,” Nadal said. “The only thing I care about is the fact that I have been playing very well during the whole event and I was able to win all my matches. That's the only thing that really matters.”

The number of games lost is, nevertheless, a reflection of how well Nadal has been playing. The Spaniard, who has not won a Grand Slam title since the 2014 French Open, has enjoyed a remarkable clay-court season, suffering his only defeat in the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters to Dominic Thiem.

Playing Rafa on clay in a French Open final is probably the biggest challenge you can have in tennis

Stan Wawrinka

Nadal blames his comparatively modest results over the last three years on the wrist problems which he hopes are now behind him. “It’s all about being healthy and having the chance to work as much as I want,” he said. “If that happens, then the chances to be very competitive and the chances to be playing well are much higher.”

While Nadal has recaptured his near-invincibility on clay, he has done so by playing a different sort of game. He is still a great defender who can make balls that would be beyond most other players, but he is also a better server and a more aggressive player than he used to be.

“Rafa is playing perfect tennis,” Alex Corretja, a former French Open finalist who went on to coach Andy Murray, said. “He’s playing aggressively and he’s defending well. He’s also moving well.

“One thing that is very good for him is that he’s winning matches more quickly than he used to. He used to win a lot of matches in two and a half or three hours after a lot of effort, but now he’s winning matches in an hour and a half or 45 minutes.”

Wawrinka's power shows little sign of fading (Getty)

Wawrinka’s game is all about aggression and raw power, as he showed in cracking 87 winners against Andy Murray in the semi-finals. He has won his last 10 matches on clay, having warmed up for Roland Garros by winning the title in Geneva.

The Swiss was the underdog in all three of his previous Grand Slam finals, each of them against the reigning world No 1. He has lost 15 of his 18 matches against Nadal but has won three of their last six meetings.

“I think that playing Rafa on clay in a French Open final is probably the biggest challenge you can have in tennis,” Wawrinka said. “He's the best player ever on clay. He's going for his 10th Roland Garros, so it's something really impressive, something tough.

“For sure it’s going to be really difficult, but at the end of the day it’s the final. The pressure is on both players. Neither of us will go on the court thinking there is no pressure. We both want to win the title and we’re both going to give it all on the court.

“For sure he’s going to be the favourite with what he's done in the past and how well he’s been playing this season. I will have to play my best tennis for sure.”

The two men have met in a previous Grand Slam final, Wawrinka having taken advantage of Nadal’s back problems to win his first major title at the 2014 Australian Open.

Nadal said he would not be looking on this as a chance to avenge that defeat. “Revenge is not part of my vocabulary,” he said. “I don't think it would be the right thing to do to see it as a revenge. In my mind, each match is different. Every single time I play a match, I consider the match to be important. The best player will win."

The world rankings will have a slightly different look come Monday morning. Murray will still be No 1, Nadal and Wawrinka will rise to the No 2 or No 3 positions according to the result of the final, Novak Djokovic will drop to No 4 and Federer will be No 5.

One fact, however, will still be true. The world's top five players are all aged 30 or over.