Stan Wawrinka loves to prove people wrong. After dashing Novak Djokovic’s hopes of completing a career grand slam by beating the world No1 in the French Open final, Wawrinka walked into the interview room and hung a pair of his much-talked about plaid shorts over the table in front of him. No explanation, but just a sarcastic look on his face.
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Later prompted to explain, the Swiss said: “Everybody has been talking about these shorts since I put them on. I quite like them. Apparently I’m the only one. It’s quite funny that they won the French Open.”
But Wawrinka’s defiance hasn’t been confined to defending his questionable fashion choices. Magnus Norman, his coach, was warned by some people before teaming up with Wawrinka.
Wawrinka’s agent, @starwingsports , tell me Yonex picked out the champ’s shorts to his then chagrin . But he now loves them
— daniel kaplan (@dkaplanSBJ) June 7, 2015
“Everyone told me when I started working with Stan that he’s a little bit soft, he’s not the man of big occasions, he lost a lot of big matches. But throughout the two years we’ve been together he’s been rock solid in all the big matches,” Norman revealed.
Wawrinka has proven those people wrong as well – his 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Djokovic in the final on Sunday a true testament to the kind of ‘big time’ tennis he is able to produce on the biggest of occasions. You don’t fire 60 winners against the world No 1 in a grand slam final without nerves of steel.
The 30-year-old Swiss didn’t necessarily have the best build up to this French Open. He hadn’t won back-to-back matches at five events between February and May and was dealing with off-court problems, announcing in April that he had separated from his wife.
But Norman saw a difference in attitude during a training block in Monte Carlo after an easy loss to Grigor Dimitrov in the tournament there and Wawrinka has been gradually improving since then.
“Since after Monaco I found the balance between when I’m on the court, when I’m talking tennis, when I’m doing tennis, I’m doing it 100 per cent without anything outside,” explained Wawrinka, who has moved up from No 9 to No 4 in the rankings on Monday thanks to his Paris win.
“I’m still surprised that in two months I can win the French Open, because I wasn’t in good shape after Monaco. It was a tough, tough moment for me. To say that now I won the French Open, it’s something completely crazy.”
Djokovic was looking to become just the eighth man in history to win at least one at each of the four majors and the French Open was the only one missing from his collection.
The top-seeded Serb, who took out Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in his two previous matches, made a solid start to the final yesterday, breaking in the seventh game on a Wawrinka double fault and he aced to hold for 5-3.
Wawrinka: “I’m still surprised at how I played. Because I think I played amazing today. I was really nervous, but I didn’t really show it”
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) June 7, 2015
Djokovic needed a service winner to save a break point soon after then roared as Wawrinka sent a ball long to hand over the opening set to the top seed. Their previous four grand slam clashes had all gone to five sets and it was obvious that this was far from over.
Wawrinka was 0/5 on break points until the end of the second set but the Swiss chose the right moment to finally convert. Djokovic went down 30-40 in the 10th game and Wawrinka unleashed all of his power in a lengthy rally until he finally broke down his opponent, who fired a groundstroke long to surrender the break and the set.
Djokovic obliterated his racquet in frustration and the crowd whistles and booed in response.
Wawrinka was putting more pressure on the Djokovic serve and a blistering backhand down the line passing shot earned the No 9 seed three break points. He converted on his first, running down a drop shot and replying with a forehand drive winner to lead 4-2.
A ridiculous around-the-net-post backhand winner – Wawrinka’s 41st of the match – was a memorable moment in game eight.
Wawrinka got triple-set point with a routine overhead and closed out the third set with a service winner.
Djokovic bounced back early in the fourth set, taking a 3-0 lead but Wawrinka struck back with unwavering grit.
Two signature one-backhand passing shot winners made all the difference for the Swiss – one was to get break point and the other was to break the Djokovic serve for a 5-4 lead.
Drama ensued. On his first championship point, it looked like Wawrinka had aced but the chair umpire confirmed it was a fault. Fighting until the last moment, Djokovic then got a break point but it slipped away.
Wawrinka took the win the only way you’d expect him to – with a backhand winner, to deny Djokovic the career grand slam.
“I’m very surprised at the way I finished the fourth set,” admitted Wawrinka. “I was relaxed on my backhand side and I could hit some wonderful backhands. It’s a rare feeling that you experience in a final against Djokovic. It’s a great feeling.”
