He demonstrated it again Sunday, upsetting the world No. 1, 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 7-5 6-3, in a bruising four-hour US Open final to win a third grand slam title.
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Sunday night’s match was 3 hours, 55 minutes.
During the trophy ceremony, Wawrinka, perhaps thinking of some of his vital career wins over Djokovic, told the Serb, “Because of you, I’m where I am today”.
“This is incredible”, an exhausted Wawrinka said on the court after a three-hour, 55-minute match. “I came here without the goal to win it, but every time I step on the court I tried my best to win every match”.
“I think I played quite a lot of tennis these two weeks, I am completely empty. There was so much emotion with the crowd, the atmosphere, the stadium, it’s been an fantastic night”. This is something I never had before so thank you so much. “It’s been wonderful night again”.
With his 6-7 (1) 6-4 7-5 6-3 victory over Djokovic on Sunday, Wawrinka captured his third major title, matching the haul of long-standing Big Four member Murray.
Stan Wawrinka is one set from winning the U.S. Open against top-ranked Novak Djokovic.
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.
The 31-year-old Wawrinka is the oldest U.S. Open men’s champion since Ken Rosewall was 35 in 1970, and entered Sunday having spent nearly exactly twice as much time on court as Djokovic during the course of the tournament: about 18 hours vs. about 9 hours.
Garcia and Mladenovic only became doubles partners at the start of 2016, and in June, they became the first pair of Frenchwomen to win the French Open doubles trophy in 45 years.
Stan Wawrinka is the first to acknowledge he hasn’t always been the most consistent player – or the strongest mentally.
“I don’t want to lose the final in a Grand Slam, that simple”. I’m so happy the way I’m playing.
For the No. 6-seeded Auger-Aliassime, his victory over the fifth-seeded Kecmanovic gives him his first Grand Slam junior singles title after reaching the final at the French Open and winning the boys’ doubles title at this year’s French Open and last year’s U.S. Open.
When it was done he heaped praise on Wawrinka as being the most courageous, of having the biggest game and being the most deserving of champions.
“I was feeling the cramp coming in the third set”. As Djokovic added, “In matches like this, if you don’t use the opportunities, the other guy comes and takes it. I would definitely accept it”.
The 16-year-old Auger-Aliassime is the second Canadian to take the Open junior title, joining 2013 champion Felip Peliwo.
Djokovic refused to get too downcast with his season despite a shock third round loss at Wimbledon. He will enter 2017 attempting to catch up with Sampras and Rafael Nadal (14 apiece). He was on the court for just under nine hours in total, half of the 17 hours and 50 minutes Wawrinka had played.
Wawrinka, who had to save a match point to beat unheralded Dan Evans in the third round, committed 51 unforced errors but crucially smashed 46 winners past his opponent. In Djokovic’s next match, Mikhail Youzhny pulled out after six games with a hamstring injury.
Wawrinka quickly broke Djokovic in the second game of the fourth set en route to a 3-0 lead. This time, blood was visible on Djokovic’s sock.
Djokovic was soon back on level terms, albeit only briefly as a second Wawrinka break levelled the match and prompted a frustrated reaction from the top seed, who was duly given a warning for racket abuse.
It was then that Djokovic called for the trainer, complaining about a toe issue.
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Djokovic, however, said there was no reason to expect injuries to hamper his play during the rest of the season or next year. We both felt the demanding match we played today physically but he came out on top. “I was unlucky in some moments”. And that’s it, that’s sport. “A few points decide a victor on this level, but again it was a fantastic couple of weeks for me”.
