Rafael Nadal’s back spasms may have played a significant role in Stanislas Wawrinka’s first ever Grand Slam triumph, but his journey in getting to the Australian Open final owed as much to Irish playwright and poet Samuel Beckett.
For, Beckett’s words are tattooed on his left forearm and, in light of his success Down Under, act as tribute to his patience and perseverance: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Over 35 tournaments Wawrinka has tried, failed and tried again, sometimes failing better – a semi-final at last year’s US Open – but at the age of 28 he was forever to be known as ‘the other Swiss player’.
Never really knocking on the door in a Major, he was a perennial last 32 player, coupled with being on the receiving end of the odd upset – as 11th seed he was eliminated in the first round of Wimbledon last year in straight sets by Aussie veteran Lleyton Hewitt.
But through a combination of mental strength, application, focus and that beautiful backhand, the wait is over. And he can also call himself the Swiss No1, with today’s new ATP rankings pushing him up to third in the world.
There will be Nadal fanboys who will bore their friends and family long into old age, angrily recalling how Wawrinka’s win was a result of the Spaniard’s injury problems. But the record books and Wawrinka’s own trophy cabinet won’t bear such ill will.
It was a victory for determination and the ‘old ways’ of tennis where power and physicality wasn’t everything.
With the greatest of respect, Wawrinka doesn’t look like an elite tennis player. He does not possess unparalleled energy like Nadal, is elegant in stature and style like his great friend Roger Federer or athletic like Novak Djokovic. His body shape, to be brutally honest, is squat and unremarkable.
When Nadal removed his shirt during an interval on Sunday it was accompanied by wolf whistles, Wawrinka also took his off… to scant recognition.
Although he can strike the ball with the same ferocity as his more celebrated peers, what Wawrinka has required to go toe-to-toe with the best – he is the first man ever to beat Djokovic and Nadal in a Grand Slam – is his technique.
The men’s game needed a Wawrinka victory. The Djokovic-Nadal-Federer-Andy Murray monopoly needed breaking for the long term health of the game so the also-rans, like David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Jo- Wilfried Tsonga can see what was previously thought improbable, before the last fortnight, is more than possible.
Players won’t admit it but many appear at Grand Slams hoping to make the second week at best. Thoughts of a semi-final or final, let alone an actual victory are fanciful, such has been the domination of the aforementioned ‘big four’.
Yet the gauntlet has now been thrown down for those still waiting for a career-defining title. Yes, Nadal will no doubt come roaring back with a vengeance in France but there are chinks in the armour, for one his body is not what it was.
Beckett’s words, via Wawrinka, could come to define tennis in 2014.
