World number one Novak Djokovic has enjoyed a whirlwind trip to Sunday’s U.S. Open final, but the top-seeded Serb expects hard work ahead when he meets Stan Wawrinka at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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On an evening so humid his racket slipped out of his hand during one swing, Wawrinka never panicked.
“I had to wait”, Wawrinka said.
The victory means Wawrinka will compete in a third career grand slam final, and his first at Flushing Meadows.
Stan Wawrinka will face Novak Djokovic for the U.S. Open title in a rematch of last year’s French Open final.
This matchup will be Djokovic’s seventh U.S. Open final, and Wawrinka’s first. He’s 2-0 in Grand Slam title matches and has won his last 10 tournament finals overall. When he backed it up at last year’s French Open, the veteran baseliner’s place among the finest big-match players of his generation was beyond dispute.
Wawrinka, though, almost departed Flushing Meadows last weekend. “What I got is my speed”.
“It was a odd match, as it always is when you play Gael, who is a very unpredictable player”.
The defeat ended 26-year-old Nishikori’s hopes of improving on his runner-up finish to Marin Cilic in the 2014 final at Flushing Meadows. The closest Wawrinka drew on Nishikori’s serve came when the No6 seed was looking to serve out the set at 5-4.
Seven break points came and went for Nishikori, including two at 4-4, and Wawrinka made him pay by pouncing on his own set point at 6-5.
“He’s one of the most charismatic guys on the Tour”, explained Djokovic, who once said Monfils was the only player he would pay to watch.
“I was definitely a little bit exhausted, especially in the end”, Nishikori told reporters.
He acknowledged that he, too, “was suffering on the court”.
“You know, sometimes, as his opponent it’s not easy to handle his up and downs but he’s a very important asset to our sport”.
Nishikori was flexing his legs between points, trudging slowly to his chair on changeovers.
After Wawrinka broke back by capping a 12-stroke exchange with a backhand victor drizzled with topspin and clocking at 93mph off the ground, the Swiss opened the following game with a 108mph ace and went on to consolidate the break with a love hold.
By the time Nishikori broke Wawrinka’s serve in the opening game of the second with a forehand victor, the sun had disappeared behind the west end of Arthur Ashe Stadium but the oppressive humidity of the afternoon stubbornly remained. Nishikori was 4 of 15 on break-point chances.
Nishikori saved a set point at 4-5 and went on to hold. “That was the biggest mistake. He was playing powerful tennis”. But after rain forced the roof to shut midway through the third set Friday, it was Wawrinka who would go on to break in the final game – just as he did in the second set.
“Hopefully I will be ready and let’s see what will happen”.
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“That’s when I’m happy with myself and proud of myself”, Wawrinka said, “when I stay strong with what I want to do”.
