Stan's The Man In Australia

Tennis has a new Grand Slam Champion, the first man to beat Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the same major, his name Stanislas Wawrinka.

Many will question the manor of his 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-3 final victory over a depleted Nadal, who sustained a back injury half way through the second set. However take nothing away from Wawrinka who played some stimulating tennis and controlled his emotions to claim his first Slam.

Wawrinka celebrates his first Grand Slam

Wawrinka, who earned his place in the final with victories over Djokovic and Tomas Berdych, outplayed the World number one and heavy favourite Nadal for a set and half firing winners from the back of the court.

It had the makings of a classic match and surely would have been if Nadal’s body didn’t give up on him, the Spaniard was nearly reduced to tears after a medical time out, as the thrilling contest that had been created slowly faded away.

Sheer adrenaline kept Nadal going as Wawrinka’s understandable nerves in his first Slam final presented Nadal the third set, and despite the Spaniard’s improving condition and tenacious fight back Wawrinka was able to close out by far the biggest moment of his career.

After living in the shadows of Swiss compatriot Roger Federer for most of his career, Wawrinka will now move up to Swiss number one for the first time, furthermore he will reach his highest ever ranking of number three in the world, a remarkable achievement in this golden era.

In twelve previous meetings Wawrinka had never beaten Nadal; he had never even taken a set off him. Many expected this to be the match where Nadal made history by equalling Pete Sampras on fourteen Slams and moving ever closer to Federer’s record seventeen.

However Wawrinka had other ideas. Not only did he settle in his first final at this level he dominated ripping winners from inside the baseline with nothing to lose.

The break came in the fourth game and was consolidated by Wawrinka’s immaculate serving to give him a 4-1 lead. He wasn’t afraid to come to the net, and despite going 0-40 when serving for the set he resisted the Nadal pressure saving the break points before finishing the set with an ace.

Anything left short by Nadal, Wawrinka was pouncing on it. The Swiss earned another break in the first game of the second set with some more sublime tennis as it was turning into an intriguing match.

But then came the moment that no one wanted to see, a Nadal grimace followed by a clutch at his back wasn’t a good sign. At the next changeover he called for a 3 minute medical time out which enabled him to leave the court, to the clear frustration of Wawrinka.

When the Spaniard returned it was clear something was wrong, his serve wasn’t even half its normal pace while his movement had also deserted him. Wawrinka broke again to lead 4-1 before Nadal received more treatment on his back in obvious pain.

Wawrinka closed out the set and at that point could have been forgiven in thinking the match was over as Nadal looked ready to throw in the towel. However the Spaniard kept on going and amazingly broke at the start of the third in staggering circumstances.

Spare a thought for Wawrinka who had gone from being on the brink of winning his first Slam to being hunted down by arguably the greatest player the game has ever seen.

Nadal’s situation had evidently improved, however Wawrinka had lost his rhythm in the dilemma of playing an injured opponent. The Swiss became too passive allowing Nadal to dictate the rallies and somehow claim the third set.

It was a time for Wawrinka to re-group and clear his head. Nadal was hanging on saving two break points in the fourth game before recovering from 4-2 down; however Wawrinka wouldn’t let his opportunity pass as he broke to lead 5-3 before serving for the title.  

He makes history by becoming the first man to beat the number one and two seeds in a major since Sergi Bruguera at the French Open in 1993. His breakthrough could be a sign of even greater things to come as the depth at the top of the men’s game appears stronger than ever.