He found them. He found his confidence and his powerful forehand, and Stan the Man turned into Swiss Superman, overcoming the mighty Djokovic to win his first ever U.S. Open title, 6-7 (1, ) 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, and the $3 million first-place prize.
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Stanislas Wawrinka, who has “Stan the Man” as his moniker is now surely the man because in winning all the Grand Slam finals he has qualified for he has had to beat the No.1 on the three occasions – Rafael Nadal for the 2014 Australian Open; Djokovic in the 2015 French Open and again Djokovic in NY. “Just look at the tournaments they won, how many years they have been there”, said Wawrinka, whose win in NY earned him $3.5m (£2.6m) – the game’s biggest payday. He won the match in a little under four hours to claim his third Grand Slam title. They have been there since ten years. That’s why I’m not there. But I don’t want to keep talking about being part of them or close to them.
Late bloomer Wawrinka did not win multiple tournaments in a single season until 2014 and has just one Masters series crown.
That includes a 2-5 mark at the U.S. Open, where Djokovic won the titles in 2011 and 2015, but lost to Federer in 2007, to Rafael Nadal in 2010 and 2013, and to Andy Murray in 2012.
Wawrinka is the oldest victor of the men’s tournament since 35-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1970 and the first over 30 to take the title since Pete Sampras in 2002.
Wawrinka also revealed why he has won all three Grand Slam finals he has qualified for. “Yeah, it was quite painful to move around”, said Djokovic. He didn’t win a match at the Olympics and, even while doing his Djokovic thing en route to the final, he never felt like the dominant player he had as recently as this year’s French Open, when he finally capped his career Slam. I didn’t know if I was going to come a few weeks before because I struggled physically. For me, there is no question about that.
With Monday’s win, the world number three maintained his 100% record in grand slam finals.
Novak Djokovic was unwilling to make excuses as he lamented missed opportunities in his US Open final loss to Stan Wawrinka.
For Djokovic, the priority will be to shake off various ailments he took treatment for at Flushing Meadows, including injuries to his left wrist and right elbow.
Wawrinka might have won a French Open junior title as a teenager, but it sure took him a while to show that sort of talent at the elite level.
As the match wore on, Wawrinka proved stronger and appeared to have Djokovic on the ropes early in the fourth set, the Serbian breathing heavily after some rallies and clutching at his leg in discomfort after being broken to trail 0-2.
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“But I was convinced that my game was there. I am completely empty”, said No. 3 Wawrinka, who noted during the trophy ceremony that Sunday was the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “I put everything on the court”. Can more come for Wawrinka down the road? “I think that’s what decided the match”, said Djokovic, per Howard Fendrich of the Associated Press.
