The 31-year-old Wawrinka is the oldest U.S. Open men’s champion since Ken Rosewall was 35 in 1970.
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“They’ve been winning everything, and I think it’s just not fair”, Wawrinka said Monday, meeting with reporters a day after beating Djokovic 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 in the final at Flushing Meadows.
The two-time major champ won the second set 6-4 after Djokovic won the first in a tiebreaker.
“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. “I was shaking in the locker-room”, Wawrinka said.
“I am complete empty”, Wawrinka admitted. I was trying to be tough with myself, trying not to show anything, not to show any pain, not to show any cramps, not to show anything. My game was there.
At least one person says absolutely not: Stan the Man, himself.
At the start of play, 39 Americans were in the main draw, one fewer than the record set by local players in 2005, but by the second week all were gone except the aging Williams sisters, Madison Keys and Jack Sock.
After all, his U.S. Open title gives him three Grand Slam trophies, the same total as Murray, and each one came via a victory in the final against the man ranked No. 1 at the time.
Wawrinka said: “Today I was trying to stay with him”.
The world No 1 took a savvy medical time-out to unsettle Wawrinka and it nearly paid dividends, but Djokovic couldn’t convert any of his three break point chances.
“I had to put my [expletive] together”, he said, laughing, reporters snickering along with him. Wawrinka wasn’t at his best, and Djokovic wasn’t playing that great either. He did so again even when going down a set to start, and is now three-for-three in major finals played.
Djokovic, who was denied a 13th grand slam title, was by contrast unusually wasteful, with his 14 squandered break points ultimately decisive.
It may be time for the “Big Four” to become the “Big Five”.
On Sunday, it was a carbon copy performance except that this time, Djokovic had the experience of winning in NY twice before; in Paris last summer, the Serb was still looking for his first Roland Garros title.
Wawrinka is looking to improve to 3-0 in his career in major finals, which includes a victory over Djokovic at last year’s French Open.
He took a medical time-out before Wawrinka’s serve in the fourth, which angered his opponent, although there appeared no lingering bad feeling at the finish as the pair shared a warm embrace. “No, I’m just focused on what I’m doing in the court”. It was a awful conversion of the break points. But then he suddenly relaxed and Wawrinka came back strongly to tie the set at five-all. Just bad from my side.
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“In the matches like this, if you don’t use the opportunities, the other guy comes and takes it”.
