- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka has once again lived up to his reputation as Grand Slam party pooper, defeating a world number one to win another major title.
The Swiss number one defeated top seed Novak Djokovic in four sets to win his first US Open title and third grand slam title overall, further fueling talk of an expansion of the “Big Four” into a “Big Five” in men’s tennis.
It was the third time the Serb had been a victim of a title run by the 31-year-old, the 29-year-old having also lost to Wawrinka in the quarter-finals of the 2014 Australian Open (in five sets) and the final of last year’s French Open.
The latter result denied Djokovic the chance to complete a career slam but he has since achieved that by beating Andy Murray in the final of this year’s French Open. This should make his latest defeat to Wawrinka at a major that less painful.
Early on it was thought the Djoker would make it lucky number 13 when he took a tightly contested opening set in a tiebreak in just under an hour.
But as he did at Roland Garros last year, Wawrinka would fight back to take the next three sets, including a 76-minute third set which lasted twelve games, to claim his third Major and leave Wimbledon as the only title which he has yet to win.
Controversy erupted during the fourth set when Djokovic took a timeout at 1-3 down to be treated for blisters on his feet (for those who don’t know, you can only take a medical timeout either at the change of ends or in between sets).
After taking another timeout at 2-5 down, he would hold in the eighth game to make it 3-5, handing the task of serving it out to Wawrinka, which he would do after Djokovic went long with a backhand on the Swiss’ championship point.
While Wawrinka celebrates a third Grand Slam title, Djokovic will be left to ponder a ninth Major final defeat, and fifth at the US Open. Still, he will remain the world No.1 ahead of second-ranked Andy Murray by a comfortable margin.
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.
For Wawrinka, he now only needs to win Wimbledon to join the likes of Djokovic, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in having won all four Major titles.
However, the lawns of the All England Club remains his Achilles heel, the 31-year-old having never reached the final there, let alone the semi-finals (his best result was a pair of quarter-finals in 2014 and 2015), in his twelve visits to SW19.
He will have the chance to complete his career grand slam there next year, but rectifying his poor record at Wimbledon will be another obstacle in itself. The Swiss lost there in the second round to Juan Martin del Potro this year.
While the drand slam season is over for another year, there is still a lot more tennis to be played in the coming months before the season concludes with the ATP World Tour Finals in November.
This weekend, the semi-finals of the Davis Cup will be contested, one of which will see reigning champions Great Britain go head-to-head with Argentina.
That tie is expected to consist of a singles rubber between Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro, who contested a physical and brutal final at the Rio Olympics last month.
While the World Group semi-finals are being contested, Australia will fight to keep its place in the elite 16 when it faces Slovakia on grass at the NSW Tennis Centre in Sydney’s Olympic Park.
Feuding rivals Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic have been named, but the former remains in doubt due to a hip injury which forced him to retire from his third round match against Iliya Marchenko at Flushing Meadows.
Should Kyrgios be ruled out, John Millman, who at the Rio Olympics made history by becoming the first tennis player to win a match by the scoreline of 6-0, 6-0, could be in line to make his debut.
Back on topic to finish off, and congratulations to Stan Wawrinka, the 2016 US Open champion, and commiserations to Novak Djokovic, whose wait for a 13th grand slam title will go into the new year.
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.
Whether it’s aces or races, try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp for great odds and a great punting experience. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.