Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland celebrates after beating Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the men’s singles final on day fourteen of the 2016 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Now he’s a flawless three-for-three.
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Yes, maybe it’s time to talk about tennis’ big five. From there, Djokovic briefly began conceding points, showing little of the fight he’s so famous for.
“Congratulations to Stan and his team”, Djokovic said. His total of less than 13 hours of playing time through the full seven rounds likely is a record for this or any other Grand Slam.
“When we start talking five minutes before the match, last few things with Magnus, I start to cry”. “He loves to play in the big matches”.
Stan Wawrinka was about 2 1/2 hours removed from winning the U.S. Open for his third major championship when he was presented with a question he probably was figuring would be coming.
The 31-year-old overcame Djokovic in four sets after initially losing the first, seeing the match out 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 early on Monday morning. Obviously I wish that I could win another title, but this is what it is. Sometimes if he feels right he doesn’t miss much and makes a lot of winners and it’s hard to play him.
Wawrinka’s sheer strength and stamina eventually wore down Djokovic, who looked less able to match his opponent’s physical output as the final reached its climax.
He’d spent almost 18 hours on court, saving a match point in a five-set thriller over unheralded Briton Dan Evans in the third round. And while the injury certainly hampered him, the space between Djokovic’s ears is what’s been giving him the most trouble ever since he was ousted from Wimbledon in the third round this summer.
Djokovic is now the number one player in World Tennis.
Finding his rhythm, Wawrinka broke back via a Djokovic double fault and after trailing for most of the opening hour, the Swiss had himself a tie-break. He pulled out of the prestigious Cincinnati tournament two weeks before the Open, an event he often used to tune up for the final Grand Slam of the year.
Stanislas Wawrinka has revealed that he was “shaking” with nerves before taking to the court for the US Open final against Novak Djokovic on Sunday.
In a match chock full of great rallies and excellent shot placements at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, top-seeded defending champion Djokovic took the first set in a tiebreaker 6-7 (1). “He comes up with his best game”. He is so solid from both corners. He’s got a good slice and incredible one-handed backhand. Big serve, moves well. A major tournament, three years running.
With the win, Wawrinka has become the oldest US Open men’s champion in 46 years. This forced the match referee to halt the game during the last set.
“The heat of the moment and the importance of the match was too strong for me at certain periods of the match and if you lose your cool the match can go away”.
“To have this result here has been wonderful”, Mattek-Sands told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd during the trophy ceremony, her eyes welling with tears and her voice choking on her words.
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Spoken like a true insider.
