"Nine titles are more than enough", he said, before adding with a smile: "Ten is only 10 per cent more than nine".
Just 12 months ago, Nadal withdrew from the French Open with a left wrist injury on the eve of the third round.
It would give Nadal his 10th French Open championship, more than any man or woman has won at any major tournament in the almost half-century professional era. Not only did Nadal win every set he played in the tournament, he dropped a total of only 35 games, the second fewest by any man on the way to any title at a Grand Slam tournament in the Open era with all matches being best-of-five-sets.
"I had too many problems on my knee, so I was not able to practise at all".
Described as "scary" by three-times former Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander, Wawrinka will not be taking a backwards step when play commences on Court Philippe Chatrier on Sunday when the temperatures are expected to soar into the late 20s.
Wawrinka knocked out Andy Murray in the semi-finals and will be looking to cause another upset of the clay courts of Paris.
However, Wawrinka has a reputation as a big-match player and is three for three in Grand Slam finals, including a win over Nadal at the Australian in 2014.
India invite Proteas to bat in crunch game
Pakistan do have some recent knowledge of the ground beaten England there by four wickets in a one-day global previous year . Coming to South Africa , they were outplayed by Pakistan in their last match , and they will be sure to make amends.
"At the moment I am not thinking about the fact it will be the last time that I go to the centre court in Paris". "I don't think it would be the right thing to do to see it as a revenge".
"I will have to do everything I can to keep him from playing aggressively".
It worked in Wawrinka's favor (as did his opponent's bad back at the time) when he beat Nadal in the 2014 Australian Open final.
"Revenge is not part of my vocab".
The most significant win as it relates to Sunday's matchup, though, came on the clay of the 2015 Rome Masters, where Wawrinka won in straight sets. He couldn't bring himself to watch much of the rest of the 2016 French Open, he said, other than some doubles matches involving a good pal, and the singles final. "He's the best player ever on clay".
"I know he's unsafe when he plays aggressively, so I need to limit his possibilities. But again, I did in the past".
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