Is Rafael Nadal back to his very best?

The Spaniard, who plays Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals on Friday, is just two wins from a record 10th French Open - 'La Decima' - and his first since 2014.

"It's starting to be the way it was," Carlos Moya, who joined Nadal's coaching team in December, told BBC Sport.

"That was one of the things that we wanted back, that the opponent feels he's playing Nadal again and if they want to beat him, they're going to have to work really hard."

They might have to work hard but thus far Nadal's opponents haven't had to spend much time on court.

The Spaniard, 31, has been getting them out of there in close to 90 minutes per match, reaching the semi-finals for the loss of just 22 games in five matches - the fewest games lost to this stage of a Grand Slam since best-of-five matches were introduced.

Twelve months ago, Nadal was forced out of the tournament through injury, and two years ago he was brushed aside by Novak Djokovic. In 2017, he has looked unstoppable.

Forehand fires Nadal back to the top

There is no question Nadal has rediscovered his mojo on the clay, but opinion is divided over whether he is back to his very best.

His new coach believes he's not far away.

"I think he's really close to 100%," said Moya. "He's played some matches this year when his level was really good.

"It's hard to compare with the old Rafa, but I think if he's not at the same level, he's close to that."

Nadal might be the king of clay but his game looks increasingly like hard-court tennis on the red dirt.

Successful in a stunning 76% of points behind second serves, and 69% of first serves, Nadal is then winning 62% of his points in under four shots, as opposed to just 15% in rallies of more than nine strokes.

(BBC)