And he did it Sunday by coming back against Djokovic, whose French Open title in June completed a career Grand Slam and made him only the third man – and first in almost a half-century – to win four consecutive major tournaments.
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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.
“I love my sport”, Wawrinka says.
Djokovic said the fact the US Open came at the end of a gruelling season made the final slam of the year all the more hard.
After Wawrinka’s win, Djokovic said, “Congratulations, Stan, to your team as well”.
Wawrinka was up a break and 3-1 when umpire Ali Nili allowed Djokovic to take the six-minute break, even though rules state time-outs can only be taken at that point if there is an “acute medical condition”.
That illustrious quartet have won 42 of the past 47 Grand Slams, though Wawrinka now has the same number of major titles as Olympic champion Murray.
Djokovic, however, admitted that he was outplayed by Wawrinka in the summit clash.
“I lost my nerve in the important moments and he kept his cool and I think that’s what decided the match”, Djokovic said.
Early in what would become a tight test of a U.S. Open final, Angelique Kerber sprinted forward to somehow reach a drop shot and scoop a down-the-line victor to a corner.
The Serb also served seven double faults, a mark he hit in two previous matches at this year’s final major.
“I just didn’t capitalise at all on my opportunities”, said Djokovic.
“He comes up with his best game”. I am very proud of it, so this loss today can not overshadow the great moments I have had in Australia and especially in Paris. Despite having won just one Grand Slam title, Juan Martin Del Potro garners the same shot at winning as the 14-time Grand Slam champion.
Then he showed just how much he has left in the tank, capping a draining fortnight with a championship victory over world number one Djokovic. “I decided like eight, nine days before the start of the Open just to try so to play finals, it’s quite fantastic”.
It’s a rather startling admission from someone who owns 12 major titles and a career Grand Slam, who has spent more than 200 weeks at No. 1 in the ATP rankings, who was the first man to exceed $100 million in career prize money in tennis.
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“I was working a lot on it and trying to find that rhythm, but my body has kind of compensated and made some different things to protect the problem I had with the arm”, he said.
