"I love grass, everybody knows, and it's a surface that I really enjoyed a lot playing there". You're talking about a kid who has never won a tournament, she's got a match point to win a Grand Slam and she hits that shot - that for me was phenomenal.
Now like Federer, who skipped the French Open to prepare for Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, Nadal will head for Wimbledon at the top of his game.
Ever modest, Nadal declared he'd played the "perfect Roland Garros", having not conceded a set.
"If you play Rafa, if you're not completely free with what you think and what you're going to do, and not completely relaxed the way you're going to play, you have no chance".
Wilander said Nadal's resurgence since pulling out of the French Open a year ago with a wrist injury - he also reached the Australian Open final and is back at number two in the rankings - is down to former world number one Carlos Moya joining his team. "You know, I played pretty well these last few matches". "The nerves, the adrenaline, I feel on the court are impossible to compare to another feeling".
The 31-year-old Nadal was overwhelmingly good from start to finish against Wawrinka - and over the past two weeks en route to La Decima, Spanish for "10th".
"It's hard for me to compare this to any other event". I do actually think he's playing his best tennis right now. "Just for me, it's the most important event in my career, without a doubt".
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The Spaniard sat out last year's event due to a wrist injury and is motivated to improve on his recent grass-court woes after an impressive 2017 so far.
Nadal is also only the third male player, after Sampras and Rosewall, to win a Grand Slam title in his teens, 20s and 30s. "I missed playing Wimbledon again [last year], so I hope that my knees will hold up well and that I can have the preparation that I really need and want", he said. I come back and see people I have a good relationship with and it's very special.
16 - Nadal has won 16 of his 19 matches against Wawrinka, including a quarter-final win en route to the 2013 French Open title.
Nadal won Wimbledon twice, in 2008 and 2010.
Nadal's forehand has been one of the great tennis strokes for over a decade, but his backhand has grown in potency - he added 36 backhand winners to 90 forehands at Roland Garros this year. "And back then, of course, I couldn't even think a second that this would ever happen to me". However, it was one-way traffic thereafter as Nadal won four straight games to claim the first set 6-2. Nadal dropped just seven points off his first serves and capitalised on 83% points off that arsenal of his, despite putting in just 65% of his first serves.
"If one day I get up in the morning and I'm no longer motivated to go train, well, I guess that day I will put an end to my career". The reasons for that is his game and what Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray - to some extent - have done, is that they've taken each other to new heights, and Rafa has had to find ways to beat these guys. There is always one ball coming back.
With temperatures topping 30 degrees centigrade on Philippe Chatrier court, there was nothing to choose between the two players in the opening four games - although Wawrinka was forced to survive four break points in the fourth game.
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