The Swiss Wawrinka’s statement on court followed that of American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who won the women’s doubles title with Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, and appeared to choke up during her victory speech, telling the crowd: “It’s a special day today here for everybody in NY”.
Advertisement
Stan Wawrinka poses with the trophy after his match against Novak Djokovic on the final day of the 2016 US Open. “I was shaking in the locker [room]”.
“I’m really excited. I watched the tournament final so many times here. That’s the only reason”, he explained later. “What do you want me to do?”
“I lost my nerve in the important moments. So close, so far”. “We both felt it”, Djokovic said on-court.
A day after Angelique Kerber outlasted Karolina Pliskova in three sets for the women’s title, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka will do battle from Arthur Ashe Stadium in NY on Sunday for the men’s final at the 2016 US Open.
“He was the better player”.
“He deserves to be in the mix, no doubt about it”, Djokovic said. “He knew what to do”.
The 31-year-old Swiss became the oldest champion in NY since 35-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1970 and the first 30-plus player to hold the trophy since Pete Sampras in 2002.
They have met on six occasions in Grand Slam tournaments, with four of those matches extending to five-sets, most recently in last year’s French Open final. Djokovic then took another medical timeout during a changeover, trailing 5-2. But Djokovic asked for the trainer and immediately took both his shoes off, gesturing to his toes, which were then taped. The break in momentum displeased Wawrinka, who received an apology from Djokovic, saying he “couldn’t stand it”. I have played quite a bit of tennis these two weeks; I’m pretty empty.
Djokovic, who won 2016’s first two majors, stayed stuck on 12 Grand Slam titles, making his chase to catch Federer’s 17 more arduous at age 29. But Wawrinka owned a 2015 win over Djokovic in the finals of the French Open, so pressure was never going to be a factor on Sunday.
“In the matches like this, if you don’t use the opportunities, the other guy comes and takes it and that’s what he did”.
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. The Swiss made the semifinals of last year’s US Open losing to Federer in three sets, 4-6, 3-6, 1-6.
But he insisted that he was not trying to gain an advantage by forcing Wawrinka to wait to serve at a crucial part of the final.
Four of those matches had gone to five sets, and from Sunday afternoon into Sunday evening, they played another of their doozies here – a match chockablock with counterintuitive twists, dramatic rallies and standing ovations from the 25,051 present.
As Wawrinka placed one stinging shot after another right on a line, Djokovic looked up at coach Boris Becker and the rest of his entourage while gesticulating with his hands and muttering. He went from appearing locked-in at the outset to completely drained in every way.
On one point, Wawrinka delivered a shot so hard it knocked the racket from Djokovic’s grasp and against a wall behind the baseline.
But Wawrinka, known for his endurance and blazing one-handed backhand, turned up the pace to capture the second set.
Novak Djokovic has won the first set of the U.S. Open final against Stan Wawrinka in a tiebreaker.
Advertisement
“You’re a great champion, a great person. I’m very proud of it, so this loss today can not overshadow the great moments I have had in Australia and especially in Paris”, he said. Both players were good on their serve’s and set went to the tie-break. “It’s a special day today here for everybody in NY”.
