French Open: Stan Wawrinka Stuns Novak Djokovic for Title

Stan Wawarinka

Remember Stan Wawrinka, the Swiss tennis pro who played a once-in-a-lifetime final at the Australian Open last year? The guy with the gorgeous one-handed backhand and the words of writer Samuel Beckett tattooed on his arm? He did it again.

Wawrinka won his first French Open title with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Novak Djokovic on Sunday. The stunning win denied Djokovic a title at the only Grand Slam tournament he has yet to win. Djokovic, the world’s top-ranked player, has won eight Grand Slam titles: five at the Australian Open, two at Wimbledon and one at the U.S. Open.

The 30-year-old Wawrinka now has two major titles—and two remarkable tennis upsets. In Australia last year, he beat top-seeded Rafael Nadal in the final. Wawrinka was seeded eighth, just like he was at this year’s French Open.

Wawrinka beat Djokovic with shots hit so hard, and so accurately, that they looked like something out of a Hollywood special-effects lab. There were forehands down the line, precision overheads and backhands galore. Wawrinka hit one backhand winner around the net post.

With every blow, Djokovic looked stunned. He turned to his box, where his coaches, Boris Becker and Marian Vajda, looked on. He shook his head. He yelled. At the end of the second set, he smashed his racket until it broke.

Djokovic looked like he might make a comeback when he broke serve and took a 3-0 lead in the fourth set. But Wawrinka kept swinging freely and didn’t fade. He leveled the set at 3-3 and escaped from a 0-40 deficit to hold serve for 4-4.

Djokovic then saved a break point on his serve by serving and volleying, but Wawrinka earned another chance and didn’t miss. He whipped a backhand winner down the line and proceeded to serve out the match.

How did Wawrinka end it? With another clean backhand winner, of course. It was his 60th winner of the match.

Source: The Wall Street Journal( Tom Perrotta)

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