The Swiss is only a Wimbledon title shy of a career Slam.
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By breaking in the final game of the second and third sets, and by saving 14 of 17 break points he faced, Wawrinka already had gained the upper hand by the time Djokovic clutched at his left leg and grimaced after missing a forehand while getting broken early in the fourth. “Stan won three Grand Slams now and three different ones. and he plays the best in big matches”.
His bid for a 13th grand slam title will have to wait until after the new year, when he will once again start the prohibitive favourite to win the Australian Open for a record seventh time. “Match after match I was playing better”, BBC quotes Wawrinka. I told Magnus [Norman, his coach] before the match I had a feeling, but this time I have even more confidence to beat him.
Novak Djokovic hailed US Open victor Stan Wawrinka as a complete player while stressed that failing to hold his nerve during the final had acted against him. But the World No.1 would have been least complacent against Wawrinka, since he has on two occasions bounced back to win the match after losing the first set in majors against Djoker. Djokovic, Murray, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have won 42 of the last 47 Grand Slam titles and 53 of the last 58 Masters Series events. Stan pointing a finger towards his temple – his signature pose, is something the fans saw on a lot of occasions in the US Open final.
Although exchanging breaks in the second set and with the contest apparently set to go into another tiebreaker, Wawrinka finally managed to prevail as Djokovic committed several errors.
That hampered his movement, but Wawrinka was ruthless in the set, and he was able to serve things out when Djoker hit long, to win it in four sets 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.
Big Four “They have been winning everything and I think it is just not fair”.
“This is incredible, for sure, an wonderful two weeks”, said the Swiss, who missed last month’s Rio Olympics.
“I think sometimes some players abuse the rules for sure. No, I’m just focused on what I’m doing in the court”.
Under Norman’s guidance Wawrinka has now won 11 finals in a row.
“It is great to be able to secure a spot once again this year after a fantastic two weeks in NY”.
‘I didn’t know if I was going to come a few weeks before because I struggled physically.
And so that’s all she wrote at the 2016 US Open, and that’s all at the grand slams for another year in which Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber dominated, winning two grand slams each, and each finishing runner-up at another. Can more come for Wawrinka down the road?
However, a comfortable 5-2 lead disappeared as Wawrinka began to find his range and it required a surge of adrenaline and form to take the Serb through the tie-break. I just didn’t capitalize at all on my opportunities. It was a awful conversion of the break points.
“Today, before the final, I was really nervous like never before”, he said.
Djokovic said after his defeat that Wawrinka, ranked third in the world, “deserves to be in the mix” with tennis’ heralded quartet, but the Swiss disagrees. Just awful from my side. “Sorry. That’s how I say it”.
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“He comes up with his best game”.
