STAN IS STILL THE MAN TO BEAT
Wawrinka’s third Grand Slam title puts him level with Andy Murray and leaves him in touching distance of creating history .
On Wednesday night, after Arsenal's impressive 2-0 win over Basel in the Champions League, Arsene Wenger said something odd.
“I like history but not especially my history.
“I'm more interested in what is in front of me and when you get older what is in front of you gets shorter so it is even more important.”
Philosophical, rational, self- deprecating - only Wenger would come out with such a line. But such a statement encapsulates the spirit and mentality which the Frenchman has stayed so true to throughout his time as Arsenal manager.
To keep on pushing forward and breaking new boundaries has remained Wenger's raison d'etre for nearly 20 years now – all the while remaining respectably, though some would say frustratingly, grounded. This sort of mentality has borne numerous fruits, not just for Arsenal but for the English sport as a whole.
But when Arsene Wenger was officially unveiled 20 years ago this Saturday as the Arsenal manager, the decision was greeted with a general sense of bemusement. ‘Arsene who?' was the question that ran on the front of the Evening Standard as fans and neutrals alike reacted with perplexity to the appointment.
Jon Henderson of The Observer went one better, remarking: “Football's experience presents a contrary proposition – that foreign coaches are the problem. Those few who have tried to transform the manly virtues of our national game into something more aesthetic have tended to disappear up their own intricacies while their teams have disappeared down the table.” But Wenger has done anything but disappear. THE INDEPENDENT
The “Top of the Rock”, an observation deck 65 storeys up the Rockefeller Centre here in the middle of Manhattan, was an appropriate place for Stan Wawrinka to reflect on the remarkable events of the evening before.
A long night of celebrations after his US Open final victory over Novak Djokovic on Sunday had not left the 31-year-old Swiss feeling on top of the world at that precise moment, but the view across New York on a glorious September day – as well as the sight of his trophy sitting on a table in front of him – clearly raised his spirits.
Asked what he had felt on waking up the morning after his 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 victory, Wawrinka said: “That I was tired. I had not had enough sleep. I was really tired. But it’s a special feeling for sure. For me it was more about the memory of the match. It was a crazy match.”
Wawrinka’s third Grand Slam title, which puts him level with Andy Murray and leaves him knowing that a victory at Wimbledon would see him become only the ninth man in history to win all four of the sport’s major trophies, came after a final that lasted nearly four hours and at the end of a tournament he described as the toughest he had ever played, from both a physical and mental viewpoint.
Djokovic had been the player who, controversially, took two medical time-outs in the fourth set for treatment to his toes, but Wawrinka had been in physical pain too, having started cramping in the third set. However, the world No 3 followed the advice of his coach, Magnus Norman, who had told him not to give Djokovic any sign of any physical problems he might be having. Wawrinka had done the same in his earlier victories over Juan Martin del Potro and Kei Nishikori. “I was focusing, trying not to show anything,” he said. “I was trying to be even tougher with myself. I knew it was really important again yesterday. We all know how good Novak is and from the little things you give he will take and he will bite it.
“I knew he would also struggle. It’s always a tough match when we play each other. It’s physical and it’s not easy with the long rallies that I’m playing, so I was just focusing on not showing anything. You don’t want to give him any reason to think: ‘Ah, maybe I should stay because he’s also starting to be tired.’ It was one of the keys of the match.” Wawrinka was diplomatic in his views on Djokovic’s medical time-outs, which Patrick McEnroe had described as “complete abuse of the rules”. THE INDEPENDENT