RESULTS: Men’s Singles Final: Stan Wawrinka won his third Grand Slam title, beating 12-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Djokovic lost a major final for the ninth time in 21 matches.
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In reaching his first US Open final – after semi-final exits in 2013 and 2015 – Wawrinka had saved a match point in a gritty five-set win over unheralded Dan Evans, held off 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro in four sets and rallied for a four-set win over 2014 finalist Kei Nishikori.
Defending champion Djokovic had completed just three matches in six rounds at the US Open after a weird run blighted by injury withdrawals, but paid the price for his lack of court time when Wawrinka dragged him into a gruelling duel.
“He was more courageous, because he stepped in and played aggressive”, Djokovic said, “where I was kind of more waiting for things to happen”.
“We played nearly four hours and we both felt it”.
All through the tight, mighty struggle, Wawrinka’s unforgiving power and daydream backhand remained a constant.
Wawrinka won the third set 7-5 to take a two sets to one lead in Sunday’s final.
Despite Djokovic’s physical issues, Wawrinka was a convincing champion.
Certainly Wawrinka gets Djokovic’s vote for inclusion, having taken two of his three titles at the Serb’s expense.
Djokovic insisted cramping was not the problem.
At 1-3 in the fourth set, Djokovic called for the trainer who worked on what cameras showed to be a bloody right toe for six minutes, which aggravated Wawrinka. Over and over again, he would get an opening to break Wawrinka, and over and over again that opportunity went by the wayside.
“It’s not the first time, it’s not the last time I’m going to lose a match”.
September 13: Stan Wawrinka has refused to be drawn into comparisons with the “Big Four” of tennis- Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray-despite winning his third Grand Slam title at US Open.
Despite losing out on a chance at winning his third USA open title, Djokovic expressed his satisfaction on winning four Grand Slams. “I mean, he definitely deserves to be mentioned in the mix of top players”. He’s winning two or three Grand Slams a year.
FEDERER AND NADAL: After ruling tennis for so long, Federer and Nadal didn’t win a major title in 2015 or 2016, and neither was a factor at Flushing Meadows (Nadal lost in the fourth round; Federer missed the tournament while he rehabs his surgically repaired left knee).
The Serb star also admitted that he came close to skipping the tournament as a serious wrist injury threatened to compromise his assault on a third major title of the year.
“I never had the goal to win a Grand Slam or be number one in the world”, he said on-court.
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Djokovic has also praised his opponent following his US Open victory, hailing the Swiss as a complete player.
