Stan Wawrinka stuns tennis dominant Novak Djokovic with US Open win
Tennis world no. 3 Stan Wawrinka had an answer for tennis dominant Novak Djokovic in the US Open final at Arthur Ashe stadium.
Stan Wawrinka was the more battle-tested of the two tennis players throughout the US Open tournament, and on Sunday evening under the lights at Arthur Ashe stadium, the extra perseverance paid off.
Wawrinka beat the dominant Novak Djokovic, 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 in an over four-hour match.
The US grand slam victory now ties Wawrinka with UK peer, Andy Murray, both three grand slams each. The Swiss player holds an Australian trophy (2014), French (2015), and now the US Open.
Two of the slams were won after he turned 30 and he is the only “active” player to do so (others have done it, but none who are current players, and none who have won more than one).
Andre Agassi won two in his 30s and the great Ken Rosewall was the most successful in this decade, winning four of them up to age 37. But no one is performing at a championship level in his thirties, that is, except Stan Wawrinka. Tonight he showed why he was the man to beat.
What a show it was, high level tennis all the way, lasting past four hours and delighting the packed crowd at Ashe with stunning shots from both players throughout the match.
When world no. 1 Novak Djokovic walked out on the court, many were thinking he was playing for grand slam no. 13, making his case even greater to match Rafael Nadal (14) and Roger Federer (17).
He had an easy draw, with three retirements in the six matches he had played up to this one. He had clocked in half the match time as his Swiss opponent. He looked the better player as the first set progressed, breaking Wawrinka, who seemed to wake up towards the end of the set and brought it to a decisive tie break.
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Despite one amazing rally where the world no. 3 hit an unbelievable forehand volley that sent the crowd cheering, Djokovic won all the rest of the points to close out the first set.
The second set, however was a different story, and we got a taste of “Stan the Man” who exhibited nerves of steel. After an amazing rally point, Wawrinka’s finger pointed to his forehead, a familiar gesture indicating that he was feeling confident.
He forged ahead to a 4-1 lead and hit winner after winner, making Djokovic run for many of the points. Not to be dismissed, Djokovic broke back to even up the set. This time, the “Stanimal” showed the mental toughness he is known for, holding steady at 5-4 and broke back to close it out with a big victory scream.
“Because of you, I am where I am today,” said Wawrinka to Djokovic afterwards, describing his admiration for his competitor and friend. “You’re a great champion, a great person.”
The third set was more evenly matched with the two both making unforced errors but also hitting stunning winners. Both struggled on their serve games, with hard-fought points on deuce. It started out with the 31-year-old bullying the world no. 1, making him work hard for the first time in the tournament and chase down so many balls to get a point.
Many of the matches were long and at 3-0, Wawrinka hit a beautiful cross-court backhand winner after what looked like he was going to lose the point. He screamed several times “Come on!” to keep the momentum going as a stunned Djokovic seemed defeated throughout the set.
But, the Serbian proved why he’s been dominant for so long by gaining in the set and letting Wawrinka make mistakes, but ultimately the third set went to the older player. With the victory, the finger went back to the forehead as he made his way to the changeover. We were going into a fourth set.
“He was tougher mentally,” explained Novak Djokovic afterwards. ”That’s sport. I struggled physically.”
The physical issues occurred in the weird fourth set once cramping in the legs set in for Djokovic. A trainer is allowed on the court for a medical time-out, but not for cramping, and only on your serve. Djokovic did neither.
Technically finishing up his serve, he then called for his trainer to bandage up his toes, even though it seemed like the leg cramping was the more obvious discomfort. ESPN commentator John McEnroe called it a “complete abuse of the rules.” Wawrinka was unimpressed with the tactic and complained to the umpire. At one point during the exchange, Djokovic turned to him and said, “Stan, sorry, man. I can’t stand.” He took a second medical timeout in the set, to further tape up his feet.
Once Djokovic was bandaged up, Wawrinka seemed a bit rattled and lost several points on his serve. Clearly the medical timeout had interrupted his momentum, but he seemed to recover, winning a decisive net point after a tough deuce game on his serve. He pumped his fist to the air and seemed to shake off the six-minute delay which had unraveled him.
At 5-3, he was serving for the championship and showed nerves by hitting a key point into the net and letting it get to deuce again on his serve game. However, he worked hard to get the advantage, hitting two stunning shots in a row down the line. Djokovic hit the last shot long and a stunned Wawrinka raised his arms in surprised victory.
Both players showed what good friends they were in real life with their warm embrace at the net, with the world no. 1 tenderly hitting the Swissman’s chest with a fist pump and exchanging words.
With the US Open men’s championship, Stan Wawrinka does what his countryman, Roger Federer (and fellow Olympics doubles partner) could not do: He beat tennis dominant Djokovic twice in a grand slam (the first was the French) and won a second major after the age of 30. In the great Federer’s shadow for so long, his three grand slams and winning record post-30 show he is a great in his own right.
Today’s win was also Wawrinka’s 11th consecutive championship match victory — amazing considering that he had been match point down in his third round against Brit Dan Evans.
Wawrinka talked about the road he took to get here. “I’m trying to be the best I can. I never wanted to be world number 1 in the world.” He said that he took each match one at a time.
Not to be forgotten, Wawrinka also took time in his speech to honor those that fell on this tragic day, September 11. “There is a bigger thing. I want to remember what happened 15 years ago.”
He also thanked his team, including his coach, Swede Magnus Norman (and former world no. 2), who has helped him achieve great success since joining the team in 2013.
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But today’s match belonged to Stan Wawrinka. Exhibiting mental toughness and stunning shot-making throughout, he demonstrated why he deserved the $3.5 million championship paycheck and the US Open trophy, which he proudly hoisted into the air at the end.