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“The only thing I want to do is push the limit”. “So close, so far”. He is a complete player.
Stan Wawrinka defeated world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s U.S. Open men’s final, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. As the 2016 season progressed, Kerber emerged as that next best player after Serena.
“He plays best in the big matches and definitely deserves to be mentioned in the mix of top players.” said the Serb. “He knew what to do”.
The 31-year-old Wawrinka is the oldest US Open men’s champion since Ken Rosewall was 35 in 1970.
He entered Sunday having spent nearly exactly twice as much time on court during the tournament – about 18 hours vs. about 9 hours – as Djokovic, who benefited from injuries to three opponents that withdrew before or during matches.
“I’m trying the best I can with my career”, Wawrinka said.
Stan Wawrinka revealed he was shaking and in tears over a fear of losing minutes before his US Open final win against Novak Djokovic.
As the match wore on, Wawrinka proved stronger and appeared to have Djokovic on the ropes early in the fourth set, the Serbian breathing heavily after some rallies and clutching at his leg in discomfort after being broken to trail 0-2.
Maybe it doesn’t matter how Wawrinka is characterized. He needed more toe treatment later in final fourth set.
But here it is: Stan Wawrinka, U.S. Open champion and now one step away from what would be the most improbable career Grand Slam in tennis history (he’d need to win Wimbledon).
Along came Novak Djokovic, and suddenly there was a group of stars known as the Big 3, a trio that has won 39 of the past 47 major championships.
But look at Wawrinka now. He’s gone two slams without a win, something he hadn’t done since the beginning of 2014.
“In the matches like this, if you don’t use the opportunities, the other guy comes and takes it and that’s what he did”.
The Swiss third seed recovered from a set down to win 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 7-5 6-3 in NY, adding the US Open to his 2014 Australian Open and French Open success past year.
Djokovic, playing in his 21st Grand Slam final was quickly out of the blocks and was up 5-2 in the first set.
Wawrinka’s path was quite the opposite. “Maybe that’s also one of the reasons I played so well again”. It’s hard to imagine Andy Murray, for example, staying calm if he’d been the one serving when Djokovic took an unorthodox break.
But it was the world number one worn down by marathon man Wawrinka. He disposed of World No.1 junior Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets in the semi-final before winning the final in less than an hour.
The third set was a pulsating battle with both players exchanging breaks early on.
“A few weeks before U.S. Open, I was thinking should I come or not because I struggled physically”, Djokovic said.
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“You’re a great champion, a great person”.
