Turns Out Stan Really Is The Man: Wawrinka captures 1st Grand Slam Title
Steen Kirby, Tennis East Coast
Stanislas Wawrinka, before today, had never won more than an ATP 250 title in his career.
He made a massive leap at the 2014 Australian Open and is now a Grand Slam champion with his 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over Rafael Nadal, who strained his back in the warm up before the match. Rafa was simply playing at 50% or worse for much of the match, especially after the first set.
Nadal struggled to get depth on his shots, to serve with any effect and to move, while Wawrinka didn’t play that strong of a match either. But against an injured opponent, he had enough to get the job done, and he really should have done it in straights.
Rafa didn’t retire, but many players would have, and it was a low quality final that was sort of never in doubt after the first set. Unless, of course, Wawrinka had totally mentally collapsed under the pressure, which he did not. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-speYazwN4M
Wawrinka and Del Potro are now the only players to have won a slam in this current era of tennis outside of the big 4 of Nadal/Djokovic/Federer/Murray, and this massive leap for Wawrinka puts him inside the top 5, currently at the number 3 ranking. An odd second week at the AO really shook things up in the men’s tennis world.
The path to the final in week 2 for Wawrinka was a straight sets win over Tommy Robredo, a massive 5 set win over the favorite Novak Djokovic.
That match finished 9-7 in the 5th, as Wawrinka and Djokovic played their third straight grand slam epic. This time, Wawrinka got over the hump and twice Djokovic had left him gasping for air, as he came up empty in Australia last year, and the US Open last fall. And this time, Wawrinka played strong and solid, though his game, like Novak’s, had ebbs and flows and after fending off a late charge by the Serbian, he held his mettle. It would be Djokovic who would crack under the pressure of needing to hold serve to keep the match going.
Wawrinka followed up that match of the tournament with a 4 set win over Tomas Berdych, who made yet another grand slam final after he beat David Ferrer in the quarters. The Czech simply didn’t have enough to reach the final, as Wawrinka, through hard work and determination has slowly but surely improved his game to what is now top 5 status for sure. Can he can keep the ranking? He is now the top ranked Swiss player, a few spots ahead of Federer, and it is a well-deserved honor quite simply. This slam final deserves a bit of an asterisk given Nadal was hurt, but Wawrinka has earned all the attention and results that he gets.
Nadal was the obvious favorite over Wawrinka had he not suffered an unlucky injury. Things often seems to afflict him at the AO more than anywhere else. His week 2 path to the final featured a difficult round of 16 victory over Kei Nishikori with two tiebreaks and straight sets. But Rafa didn’t play well, struggling especially with an ulcer-like blister on his hand that was a cause célèbre all week. There was also a four set quarterfinal win over a determined Grigor Dimitrov, who put his heart into the match, and played well for a set and a half, but had his level drop from there. There, Rafa was not great but again survived a test. His most routine win was the semifinal victory over Roger Federer.
Many expected a blockbuster epic clash between Fedal, but after Nadal survived the aggressive serve and volley effort in the first set from the Swiss maestro, the match swung solidly in his favor and he was able to generate far more break point opportunities and outwit his rival Federer yet again. He seems to have his number by now. Nadal finished the match in a very high quality and entertaining straight sets, having overcome worries about his movement and the blister.
Federer played some throwback serve-and-volley tennis this week and scored mild upsets over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Andy Murray to reach the semis. It’s a great result for Roger and hopefully a sign of good things to come after he changed racquets and started work with Stefan Edberg as his coach. There are many storylines coming out of week 2 in Australia.
For Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, there is work to be done and much to improve on as they continue into their 2014 seasons.
Lukasz Kubot/Robert Lindstedt beat the Cinderella Story Duo of Eric Butorac/Raven Klaasen to win the men’s doubles crown.
Tennis Atlantic 