French Open title proves elusive yet again for Djokovic
Wawrinka plays ‘match of my life’ in four-set win
Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka holds the Coupe des Mousquetaires after defeating Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the French Open final on Sunday. The win was just Wawrinka’s second major, but denied Djokovic the chance to complete the career Grand Slam.
PARIS • A terrific French Open men’s final full of gruelling rallies and bold strokes had just ended, and Gustavo Kuerten appeared on the red clay to hand out the trophies.
It seemed just the right time and place. Kuerten, the endearing Brazilian better known as Guga, is a reminder that the world’s greatest claycourt tournament does not always follow the script.
His victory in 1997 with a world ranking of 66 was a samba beat out of the blue, and this year’s French Open had a surprise ending in store as well.
It was supposed to be the year No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic would complete the career Grand Slam, and if any further confirmation was required, it came in the quarter-finals when he outclassed the ninetime French Open champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets.
But Stan Wawrinka had other plans and other weapons, and on Sunday, he kept summoning the guts and the precision power required to bring the high-flying Djokovic once more back to earth at the only Grand Slam tournament he has yet to win.
“I played the match of my life,” the eighth-seeded Wawrinka said after his 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Wawrinka, in truth, has played a lot of marvellous matches in the past three seasons: making the difficult mid-career breakthrough from outsider to Grand Slam champion by winning the Australian Open in 2014.
He beat Djokovic on his way to that title, winning an epic quarter-final by the score of 9-7 in the fifth set. But Djokovic still held a 17-3 lead over Wawrinka coming into Sunday’s final and clearly has been a tennis champion on a mission this season, sweeping all the most important tournaments in which he played before arriving in Paris.
But the red clay of Roland Garros has a way of turning into quicksand for Djokovic, who has now lost in the final here in 2012, 2014 and 2015, and also lost four times in the semifinals.
This, however, was the first time he was not beaten by Nadal in the final. The new king of clay, at least for the moment, is Wawrinka, a 30-yearold from French-speaking Switzerland who has long had to dwell in Roger Federer’s historically large shadow but has now won two Grand Slam singles titles to Federer’s none in the past two seasons.
“I think people tend to create more of a story where it’s just me, and it feels like I’m the only player who wants to win the trophy, and nobody wants to win it as much as I do,” Djokovic said. “This is completely untrue. Every singles player who is here, especially the top players, wants to win this trophy as much as I do. I think it’s something that I think we have to keep in mind.
“I’m not trying now to release the pressure for myself,” Djokovic added. “Pressure is part of what I do. I got used to it. I had many tough matches in my life. Today, I went out onto the court knowing I’m close, but across the net, I also had a player who wanted to win and had not much to lose. And he was playing very well, and he deserved to win. That’s all I can say.”
Plenty more was said, of course, on Sunday, much of it moving. There was Djokovic turning to Wawrinka, his runner-up trophy again in his grasp, and saying in French: “It’s not easy for me to speak right now, but I have to say that in life, some things are more important than victories, and those are character and respect. I have great respect for you, Stan. You are a great champion with a big heart, and you deserve this title.”
There was Wawrinka telling Djokovic that he was sure Djokovic would win the title one day and then turning to the stands and dedicating his victory to his coach Magnus Norman, the former Swedish star who lost to Kuerten in the 2000 final here and also had to watch his former pupil Robin Soderling lose twice in the French Open final.
“This one is for you,” Wawrinka said. “You’ve won it.”
It was quite a Roland Garros turnaround for Team Wawrinka. He lost here in the first round last year. But though he has long been viewed as a marathon man, he won this year without ever having to go the full five-set distance. He routed Federer in straight sets in the quarter-finals, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets in the semifinals and saved his best for last by beating Djokovic in four sets.
Wawrinka had the not inconsiderable advantage of an extra day’s rest before the final. Djokovic’s five-set semifinal victory over Andy Murray was contested over two days, finishing Saturday afternoon after being halted at 3-3 in the fourth Friday evening.
With the margins at this level often so thin, that could well have made the difference, but Djokovic did not bite.
“I don’t want to come up with an excuse, saying these two matches took a lot out of me, and I lost today,” he said. “I don’t think that’s fair to Stan. I don’t think that’s fair to sit here and whine about now what has happened.
“Maybe in some important moments, I didn’t feel I had that explosivity in the legs, but look, at the end of the day, he was just a better player.”