World number one Novak Djokovic says tennis now has a “big five” following Stan Wawrinka’s US Open triumph.
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Most glaring of all during a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 loss to Stan Wawrinka on Sunday was this statistic: Djokovic, one of the greatest returners of his, or any, generation, converted only 3 of 17 break chances.
“When we start talking five minutes before the match, last few things with Magnus, I start to cry”.
“I’m 31 years old”, Wawrinka said in NY when asked why he wasn’t looking toward retirement. Physically I was there.
At the start of 2014, if you had told anyone, including Stan Wawrinka, that he would be a three-time major champion with more titles over the next three seasons than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray combined, you’d have been laughed off before even getting to Murray’s name.
The third seed defeated the world no.1, 6-7 (1-7), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, to take his third major title after the French and Australian Opens.
The 31-year-old Wawrinka is the oldest US Open men’s champion since Ken Rosewall was 35 in 1970.
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.
“You were the more courageous player”. “And it’s the first time ever I had that feeling in a tournament and in a match”. “Just look at the tournaments they won, how many years they have been there”.
Wawrinka is now three-from-three in Grand Slam finals, having added his US Open crown, to wins in Melbourne and Roland Garros.
Wawrinka said: “Today I was trying to stay with him”. Wawrinka had to fight draining battles on his way to the final at Flushing Meadows and the final encounter against the world number one player was no different. You have to accept to suffer and you have nearly to enjoy to suffer.
And he did it by coming back against Djokovic, whose French Open title in June completed a career grand slam and made him only the third man – and first in almost a half century – to win four consecutive major tournaments. It was just the toenails were off and bleeding (during the final).
He is 3-0 in grand slam finals, beating the No. 1-ranked player each time.
“But then, then, then”.
The 30-year-old Spanish superstar said his injury layoff was a “very negative part of the year for me” and he was “just happy to be on tour again”. Although, his 21 Grand Slam title did not go in the same way as he would think.
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I was joined by a couple of my friends at the US Open on Day 8 of the tournament, and since they are relatively new to tennis, I wanted to make sure they took in every aspect of the sport before forming an opinion about its worthiness.
