September 12: Stan Wawrinka, who captured his maiden US Open title and first grand slam trophy of the year after defeating world number one Novak Djokovic, is unable to contain his excitement.
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Novak Djokovic, left, shares a joke with US Open victor Stan Wawrinka.
Then he continued: “That question comes every time I win a Grand Slam”.
This was not the first time that he outplayed Djokovic, earlier he also proved his mettle in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open en route to his first Grand Slam title in 2014 and in the final of the French Open previous year against the world no 1.
A minute’s silence was held in NY on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
The incident seem to put the crowd clearly behind Wawrinka, and especially after Djokovic, the defending champion, asked for further treatment trailing 5-2.
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.
For the third year in a row, Stan Wawrinka has a major championship. But don’t forget the forehand, which is among the most punishing around.
In the high stake men’s final of US Open 2016, Swiss player Stan Wawrinka defeated tennis icon Novak Djokovic.
Wawrinka said: “Today I was trying to stay with him”. You have to shake hands and accept the loss from a better player and move on, ‘ said Djokovic, adding, ‘It’s not the last time I’m going to lose a big match. Hopefully I can learn from it.
“(He has) been around for so many years, and he plays best in the big matches”.
“Honestly after the match I was completely empty”.
Wawrinka has now won all three Grand Slam finals he has played in.
In the latter half of the match, Djokovic, who had an easy run to the final, was seen in severe pain, but he made sure to complete the match.
“He deserves to be in the mix, no doubt about it. Stan has won three Grand Slams now and three different ones; Olympic medal”, said the Serb.
The world number three was match-point down to Britain’s Dan Evans in round three at Flushing Meadows, before fighting his way back to victory.
With the win, Wawrinka became the fifth man in the Open Era to win two or more Grand Slam singles titles after turning 30. “A few moments decided it”.
There was no mystery to what drove him through almost 18 punishing hours on court to reach the final – plus four more on Sunday – it’s the same engine that drives him at an age when many are thinking of winding down their careers.
It was in January 2014 that Wawrinka beat Djokovic to reach the Australian Open semifinals. It happened again in the US Open Title race. The right-hander reveals he does not think about becoming the top-ranked tennis player.
He admitted he had struggled on serve throughout the tournament because of an arm injury. Much of the match boiled down to the break points, which worked in Wawrinka’s favor on Sunday.
“It was a fantastic couple of weeks for me”.
“I really didn’t know whether or not I’m going to come, to be honest”, he said.
Not until the Australian Open in January will Djokovic, who has spoken of his desire to match Federer’s leading men’s haul of 17 majors, get his next opportunity to collect a 13th grand slam title.
“I never had a goal to win a Grand Slam but I am trying as best I can”.
Wawrinka raced out to a 3-0 lead in the third set, breaking Djokovic in the second game and ripping a backhand right past Djokovic to win the third game.
“It means a lot to me”.
Wawrinka nearly dropped serve from 40-0 in the ninth game – taken to deuce – and had to escape from 15-30 at 5-5.
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The victory was Wawrinka’s fifth in 24 matches against Djokovic, though three of those wins have come in the last three years. Yet after the medical timeout at 3-1, he held break points. “It’s a special day today here for everybody in NY”.
