Australian Open 2014: Wawrinka stuns
World No.1 Nadal, wins title!
-DR. ABDUL RUFF COLACHAL
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Australian open this time
witnessed many surprises, starting with early losses by top women players,
including Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
Now World number one has been
downed by an upcoming 28-year-old junior payer. Swiss Stanislas
Wawrinka won the Australian Open for his first grand slam title when he
beat Spain's Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-3 in the final on 26th January.
Stan Wawrinka added a win over
Rafael Nadal to his list of firsts in a stunning run to his maiden Grand Slam
title. Playing his first major final, Wawrinka blew past Nadal in the first set
behind a barrage of offense. Winning a set alone was a breakthrough for
Wawrinka, who had been 0-for-26 in 12 previous meetings against the 13-time
Grand Slam champion.
Ranked 8, Wawrinka, 28, became
the first player to beat both Nadal and three-time defending champion Novak
Djokovic at a Grand Slam and the first player to topple the No. 1 and No. 2
seeds at a Slam since Sergi Bruguera accomplished the feat at the 1993 French
Open. He also delayed Nadal’s quest to become the first man in the Open Era to
win each Slam twice.
The Swiss boy Wawrinka had never taken a set off Nadal in 12 previous meetings,
but attacked from the start against the 13-time major winner and regained his
nerve after dropping the third set against the Spaniard.
Wawrinka rises to a career-high
No. 3. “It’s quite crazy what’s happening right now,” Wawrinka said. “I never
expected to win a Grand Slam. I never dreamed about that because, for me, I was
not good enough to beat those top guys….“It's really not the way you want to
win a tennis match, but in a Grand Slam final I'll take it,” said Wawrinka, the
first man in 21 years to beat the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked players en route to a
Grand Slam tournament title.
Wawrinka lost in five
sets to Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of the 2013 Australian Open, in the
longest Grand Slam match of the season. Djokovic went on to win his third
consecutive title at Melbourne Park, and then beat Wawrinka again in five sets
in the US Open semifinals. But Wawrinka avenged those losses this time,
beating Djokovic in five sets in the quarterfinals to end a run of 14
consecutive losses to the Serbian player.
Wawrinka composed himself after
an exchange of breaks in the fourth set to serve it out in 2 hours and 21
minutes. After a muted celebration, he consoled Nadal in the courtside chairs
before getting a chance to hold up and kiss his first big trophy.
Wawrinka also broke up a
sequence of wins for the Big Four, with 34 of the previous 35 majors going to
either Nadal, Djokovic, Roger Federer or Andy Murray. “Stan, you
really deserve it,” Nadal said. “Luck was against me today but you really
deserve it. “Last thing that I wanted to do was retire. I hate to do
that, especially in a final. Same time, is tough to see yourself during the
whole year you are working for a moment like this, and arrives the moment and
you feel that you are not able to play at your best. “
Nadal has actually gained
points, owing to his absence from this tournament last year, but second-placed
Djokovic has fallen 3,700 behind – the equivalent of almost two grand slam
titles. Murray is now the world No 6 and Federer an almost
unthinkable No 8.
Nadal said he felt discomfort
in his back during the warm-up. “I’m obviously disappointed and very sad about
what happened,” Nadal said. “But that’s life, that’s sport. I’ve really had a
lot of great moments in my career. That’s a tough one. Just accept it and try
to keep working hard for what’s coming.” Nadal appeared to be on the verge of
retiring in the second set, when he hurt his back and needed a medical time
out, but he, as usual, refused to quit.
Nadal was a hot favorite to win at Melbourne Park and become the first man to
win each of the four Grand Slam tournaments twice in the Open era. It remains
the only major he's hasn't won at least two times.
Nadal won the title in 2009,
and lost an epic five-set final to Djokovic in 2012. But he missed the 2013
event during a seven-month layoff with knee injuries and illness, and his
quarterfinal losses in 2010 and 2011 were affected by injuries. “It
has been a very emotional two weeks, I'm sorry to finish this way,” he told the
Rod Laver Arena crowd.
“Rafa, I'm really sorry for
you, I hope your back is going to be fine, you're a really great guy, good
friend and really amazing champion,” Wawrinka said as he accepted his first
major trophy. “Last year I had a crazy match, I lost it. I was crying a lot
after the match. But in one year a lot happened — I still don't know if I'm
dreaming or not but we'll see tomorrow morning.”
Wawrinka also admits that he
did not see himself as a potential champion when he flew into Melbourne three
weeks ago. Wawrinka was not the only one to find himself blinking in
disbelief. The tennis community woke up to a new world. A world in which the
old certainties – namely that every grand slam tournament must be won
by Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Andy
Murray – have been significantly undermined.
Wawrinka’s victory has left the world rankings in a reshuffled
state. Now Wawrinka will move from No. 8 to No. 3 in the rankings. In
doing so, he'll surpass Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam event winner who lost to
Nadal in the semifinals, to become the highest-ranked Swiss player for the
first time in his career.
A constant supporter of his
countryman, Federer was one of the first people to call and congratulate
Wawrinka after his win.
One
final word here. Stan Wawrinka has indeed fought and won the tile at
Australia open and there is no question of Nadal gracefully letting him win it.
Australian Open champion Wawrinka says his victory will give other players in
the chasing pack the belief that they too can beat the 'Big Four' in grand slam
tournaments.
Perhaps,
a fine turning point for tennis!
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