Swiss world number three Stan Wawrinka has upset world number one Novak Djokovic to win his first U.S. Open title at Flushing Meadows in NY.
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Stan Wawrinka revealed he was shaking and in tears over a fear of losing minutes before his US Open final win against Novak Djokovic.
“He is a great champion and deserves to win this title”, the 12-times slam winning Serb said in congratulating Wawrinka.
“I don’t know what’s happening right now”, he said, clearly exhausted after a slog of a match that lasted just under four hours.
“In general, the only pressure that I feel in a Grand Slam is the pressure I put on myself”, Wawrinka said.
“Physically I was there”.
It was another Flushing Meadows disappointment for Djokovic, who in seven trips to the U.S. Open final has twice won the title and finished runner-up five times.
“Saving match point, you have be a little bit lucky”, said the Swiss after adding the US Open to his 2014 Australian Open and 2015 French Open titles.
But he insisted that he was not trying to gain an advantage by forcing Wawrinka to wait to serve at a crucial part of the final.
By breaking in the final game of the second and third sets, and by saving 14 of 17 break points he faced, Wawrinka already had gained the upper hand by the time Djokovic clutched at his left leg and grimaced after missing a forehand while getting broken early in the fourth.
At 31, Wawrinka is the oldest U.S. Open men’s champion since 1970.
That said, Laver – owner of 11 major titles, and the only two-time victor of a calendar-year Grand Slam – was impressed by what he saw of Wawrinka from the Arthur Ashe Stadium stands Sunday.
Wawrinka had begun to find his rhythm late in the opener, but by the second set he was in full swing giving his top-seeded opponent cause for concern.
“Give everything and keep fighting and go try to win it”.
Wawrinka backed up that breakthrough with a victory over Djokovic in last year’s French Open final – denying the Serb in his first bid to join the select club of men to complete a career Grand Slam.
“There is no secret”, Wawrinka said.
At this stage, it is hard to call this one an upset, and Djokovic stated the obvious before this final when he called Wawrinka “a big-match player”.
“You have to accept to suffer and you have nearly to enjoy to suffer”, he said.
Back then, just reaching the final was an accomplishment to celebrate. He arrived at the final having spent very almost half as much time on court as Wawrinka, who had to save a match point to escape from his third-round encounter against British outsider Dan Evans. “Sorry, that’s how I say it”. “If you look, yes, I have three Grand Slams”. I am very proud of it, so this loss today can not overshadow the great moments I have had in Australia and especially in Paris. “That means living with your passion, with your sport”.
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And then Andy Murray elbowed his way in at the top, creating what some referred to as a Big 4.
