No, there was nothing polite about the way Wawrinka dethroned Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked player in the game, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, Sunday to win his first U.S. Open singles trophy.
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Until losing in the third round at Wimbledon against Sam Querrey, Djokovic had won 30 consecutive Grand Slam matches, becoming only the third man – and first in almost 50 years – to win four consecutive major titles.
Monfils, who was playing in his second major semi-final – his first since 2008, hadn’t dropped a set in five matches in NY, however he couldn’t have made a poorer start. Women’s Doubles Final: No. 12 Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova won their third Grand Slam title, rallying to beat the top-seeded French team of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
“I played quite a lot of tennis these two weeks”. I was completely shaking.
Wawrinka trailed Djokovic 19-4 in their career meetings, but the hard-working Swiss saves his best for the big stage and he came through with a superlative performance that extended his remarkable streak to 11 straight wins in tournament finals. The Swiss player went out to a 2-0 lead before Djokovic managed to bring the set back on serve.
It is time for the ending of the last Grand Slam of the year, the US Open.
Wawrinka refuses to be featured in any “Big Five;” he feels the other four are much more consistent. And perhaps most interestingly, he is the only active player to win two titles after the age of 30, something that can be attributed to his strength and physical training. Indeed he sometimes suffers baffling losses, yet the deeper he progresses at events, the more unsafe he becomes: He has won his last 11 finals. That court time included an epic four-hour, third-round match in which he had to battle back in five sets against Britain’s Daniel Evans. That was on view in this US Open 2016 final as well.
The first one irked Wawrinka, since it happened not during a changeover – which is the norm – but at 3-1. Olympic medal. Been around for so many years, and he plays best in big matches. “I was allowed, so I took it”, Djokovic said.
“He is a great champion and deserves to win this title”, the 12-times slam winning Serb said in congratulating Wawrinka. “Stan won three grand Slams now, and three different ones”.
Sep 11, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland celebrates match point in his player box with girlfriend Donna Vekic after his match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia on day fourteen of the 2016 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Djokovic was broken from 40-15, donating a pair of double faults in the game. The Serbian could convert just three of 17, while Wawrinka took advantage of six of ten break points. He entered Sunday having spent nearly exactly twice as much time on court during the tournament – about 18 hours vs. about 9 hours – as Djokovic, who benefited from injuries to three opponents that withdrew before or during matches. Djokovic blew a game point at 5-6.
Djokovic said Wawrinka was a deserving champion.
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It worked in phases, but not often enough to stop the world number one, who progressed 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-2 in two hours and 32 minutes. “I think that’s what decided the match”, said Djokovic, the No. 1 seed and defending champion. At one point, Monfils so irked Djokovic that the world No. 1 tore off his own shirt.
