9.26am GMT STANISLAS WAWRINKA WINS THE FIRST SET 6-3!
Stanislas Wawrinka has played Rafael Nadal 12 times and he has never won a set before. Now he's on the verge of winning one for the first time and it's in his first grand slam final, so it's not entirely surprising to see him tighten up. He mishits a forehand to lose the first point and Nadal then rips into a second serve with a scorching forehand down the line to make it 0-30. Uh oh. Wawrinka then suffers extreme misfortune as what would have been a forehand winner clips the top of the net, taking the pace off the ball and allowing Nadal to take control of the rally, eventually landing the killer blow with a forehand winner to earn three break points. But then it's Nadal's turn to experience butterflies, allowing Wawrinka to save three break points. On the third, he walloped a return miles long off a second serve! Extraordinary! Wawrinka then wins his fourth successive point to make it set point, Nadal blocking a backhand return past the baseline. It's set point! And this time Wawrinka doesn't blink, a heatseeker of an ace sending the crowd wild! He was 0-40 down, for crying out loud! He won five points in a row. Amazing. No one wins 27 sets in a row against Stanislas Wawrinka.
9.32am GMT
Second set: Nadal* 3-6, 0-1 Wawrinka (*denotes server):
Wow. Wow is the word. Did anyone see that coming? What a marvellous set of tennis that was from Wawrinka and what nerves of steel to hold when it came to the crunch. How often do you see Nadal fail to break from 0-40? More pertinently, how often do you see Nadal dominated in this manner? He's being picked off at every opportunity. This is incredible from Wawrinka. Two forehands huger than the Empire State Building make it 0-30 and then he has Nadal on the run, the Spaniard slapping a tired forehand into the net to make it 0-40. Three break points for Wawrinka! Before Nadal can serve, he's given a warning over a time violation. That'll lift his mood, no doubt. And so will this. Nadal serves wide and Wawrinka reaches with all his might to crack a two-handed cross-court backhand into the corner! The angles he's finding are ridiculous. Nadal isn't even bothering to go for some of these shots. He's stunned. The world No1 is a set and a break down.
9.34am GMT
Second set: Nadal 3-6, 0-2 Wawrinka* (*denotes server): The question is how long can Wawrinka keep this up. Diana Badder thinks not. "I doubt it but cross fingers, sometimes all their energy goes into the first set and then, if it's not Nadal!, they fizzle out...." she forebodes. You may be right and having been 40-0 up in this game, Wawrinka is dragged back to 40-30. So what does he do? He serve-volleys. Of course he does. The punched forehand volley to win the last point is a thing of beauty.
9.40am GMT
Second set: Nadal* 3-6, 1-2 Wawrinka (*denotes server): Nadal has won 17% of points on his second serve so far, which is Not Very Good. But Wawrinka is dictating this match. Only sheer strength of character can keep Nadal in this match at the moment because it's being played on Wawrinka's terms. He's also wincing and feeling his lower back after a wild forehand into the net makes it 40-30. That's uncharacteristic for Nadal, who's not one to let his opponent know he's in pain. He loses the next point to make it deuce but manages to hold. Just. His final two serves were noticeably slow. The trainer is on. "What a start from Stan...who would have predicted this!" says Stephen McKenna. "Can he keep it up?
9.40am GMT MEDICAL TIME-OUT
Rafael Nadal has left the court to receive treatment from the trainer on his back. Wawrinka has to stay focused.
9.43am GMT
Wawrinka wants to know why Nadal has gone off court. The umpire, who's apparently taken the hippocratic oath, says he can't tell him. Wawrinka, it's fair to say, disagrees. "You have to tell me why," he says.
9.45am GMT
"You have a choice," says the umpire, Carlos Ramos. "You can fight about this or forget about it. I think you should forget about it." Wawrinka is in a funk. He is fuming. He's not letting this go. He chucks a towel away and another suit has had to come on to try to placate him. Let's hope he doesn't let this affect him because this is his final to lose at the moment.
9.46am GMT
Nadal is back on court but he took longer than the time he was allowed to return. Why hasn't he been penalised?
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