NEW YORK —
Stan Wawrinka had played twice the amount of tennis at this U.S. Open as world
No. 1 Novak Djokovic, but Sunday evening in the final inside Arthur Ashe
Stadium, that only seemed to help.
Wawrinka, the No. 3 seed, swiss journeyman
wowed the crowd in a fantastic display of power tennis and physical force,
beating Djokovic with his one-handed backhand in a 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3
victory.
It is the Swiss 31-year-old’s third Grand Slam
title in three major final appearances, adding to the trophy shelf at the
2014 Australian Open and 2015 French Open, the latter in which he also beat
Djokovic in a four-set final.
“We have known each other for many, many
years,” Wawrinka said on court. “Because of you I am the player I am today.
Djokovic looked surprised in his play with Wawrinka.
“This is honestly
amazing. I came here without expecting, without having the goal to win the
match. I have played quite a bit of tennis these two weeks; I’m pretty empty.
There was so much emotion. This is something that I never had before.” Said
Wawrinka.
Djokovic did not have to work as hard. As He
was on court for just under nine hours in total, half of the 17 hours and 50
minutes Wawrinka had played.
Djokovic failed to defend his U.S. Open title,
with Roger Federer being the last player to have done so, winning five in a row
from 2004 to 2008. Interesting a Swiss Man stopped Djokovic and on the Womans
side Kerber , German, became No. 1. and making it more definately difficult for Serena Williams to beat Steffi Graf’s (German) record.
The wear from six hard matches showed on the
Swiss player to start the match, Djokovic racing to a 5-2 lead and having two
set points on Wawrinka’s serve in the 32nd minute. But Wawrinka
would save both of those, hold and then break for 4-5 when Djokovic threw in
his first double fault of the match. Oh boy. Not good for the Joker. Quite the
Fight.
They battled to a tiebreak, where Djokovic
jumped to a 2-0 in the Tiebreaker and lead when they engaged in what was
perhaps the point of the tournament, a long exchange in which Djokovic chased
down two apparent Wawrinka winners, only for Wawrinka to end the point on an
amazing only on tv worthy forehand volley. The Crowd roared with approval and
Wawrinka thrust his arms up, but that would be the lone point he would win in
the break, Djokovic playing clean, aggressive tennis as the errors that
Wawrinka started the match with crept back into his game.
Wawrinka wouldn’t go down by two sets,
however, jumping to a 4-1 lead in the second and then — after Djokovic had
evened things at 4-4 — held for 5-4 and broke Djokovic once again when he
pushed a forehand groundstroke wide, the two in a dead heat at the one-hour,
45-minute mark.
In the third set Wawrinka would take a break
lead only to relent again, but held at 5-all and then broke in fantastic
fashion from 30-love down.
The match saw a shocking turn of events,
Djokovic appearing to cramp at the beginning of the fourth set, going down 3-0
as he was barely able to move. The crowd inside going quiet, then trying to
will him on, wanting to see a fight, as he struggled point by point.
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| Djokovic Surprised! |
It was then that Djokovic called for the
trainer, complaining about a toe issue. Wawrinka argued that he could only call
for medical treatment during a change over, but officials allowed the break,
Djokovic having a toe on his right foot taped in a six-minute delay.
At one point, Djokovic looked over to Wawrinka
and said, “Stan, sorry man. Can't Stand.”
John McEnroe spoke on the ESPN broadcast: “I’m
not buying this,” claiming that the medical break was for rest from the
cramping, and not for his toe.
It was an 11th consecutive win in a
championship match for Wawrinka, dating to 2014, when he started working with
former world No. 2 Magnus
Norman. He had been 4-9 in finals from 2005 to 2013.
Wawrinka 31 years old became the first player to come from match point down to
win the U.S. Open since Djokovic himself did so in 2011, being two match points
down to Federer in the semifinals. The win also makes him the oldest U.S. Open
champ since Ken
Rosewall in 1970, who was 35.
The late-career success of Wawrinka has
interrupted an otherwise Big Four-dominated men’s tour. Djokovic, Federer, Rafael
Nadal and Andy
Murray have won 42 of 47 majors since the 2005 French Open,
though three of those five now belong to Wawrinka.
Wawrinka, whose battle sign is an index finger pointed at his head, showing the
mental strength that he has built up with Norman.
He is a fighter whose time has come………………
“He’s been able to be able to produce some amazing tennis in the finals,” Norman said earlier in
the tournament. “He surprised me for sure the way that he handled himself in
his first Grand Slam final in Melbourne.
I know how emotional it can be and how nervous I was feeling.” Nice Suprise in New York. A Great Player!
Thanks For Reading, Coach Sherwin
Anderson
Let's Remember our Heroes on 9.11...First Responders and all the folks who perished on this day 15 years ago. God Bless us and Say a Prayer!!!
