Two weeks ago, Stanislas Wawrinka was not a
household sports name. Now, two weeks later, the 2014 Australian Open Champion
and World No. 3 has sprung out of fellow Suisse Roger Federer’s shadow and into
the spotlight. ‘Stan the Man’ announced himself as a legitimate contender for
the Aussie Open title by out-slugging and, more importantly, outlasting
three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. He came oh
so close to pulling off that tremendous feat in last year’s Aussie Open Round
of 16, falling just short against Djokovic, 12-10 in the 5th set.
However, he and many analysts point to that crushing defeat as the springboard
for his recent surge into the top tier of men’s professional tennis. The ‘Big
Four’ of Rafael Nadal, Djokovic, Andy Murray and Federer have been utterly
ruthless and dominant for the past handful of years in controlling the outcome
of major championships. Until Stan crowned himself a major champion, no one
outside the ‘Big Four’ had been able to capture a Grand Slam title since Juan
Martin Del Potro announced himself as a major contender when he beat Nadal and
Federer back-to-back to claim the 2009 US Open. And you would have to go back
another four and a half years to find another ‘non-Big Four’ player to win a
major in now-retired Marat Safin’s run to the 2005 Australian Open crown. What
this all means, despite Nadal’s injured back and hampered play, is that what
Stan accomplished in this Australian Open is an incredibly difficult and rare
feat. Not only did he win his first major title in an era where most guys
outside the ‘Big Four’ don’t get a sniff, but he became the first player ever
to defeat both Nadal and Djokovic in a Grand Slam. Pretty impressive for a guy
who went into the tournament with a combined 2-27 record against the Top 2
players in the world.
The ‘Stanimal’ had always had the game to compete
and play with the big boys, but it was his lack of confidence and belief in the
big moments that had slowed his progress. His one-handed backhand has long been
amongst the best in the game and, along with his booming serve and
much-improved forehand wing, he has managed to become a relatively complete
player. There are no aspects of Stan’s game that shout “Hey, come attack me,
I’m weak!” His service return, especially off of big first serves, has been
criticized for being too defensive and not damaging, but why don’t you try and
be offensive off of a 140 mph bomb placed into either corner of the box? He has
even shown the ability to volley effectively and play touch shots around the
court, which has not been viewed as his strong suit during his career. Stan’s
hiring of former top-player Magnus Norman as his coach at the beginning of last
year has proved to be the difference in his belief and Norman has given him the
voice he so desperately needed to hear. Norman, although not a Grand Slam
champion, has played in Slam finals before and knows what it takes to believe
you can compete at the top of the game. His influence on Stan should not go
unnoticed, and he has been without question a huge positive in Stan’s corner.
Wawrinka has always hit the ball big off of both wings, but it seems as if he
is hitting the ball with even more aggression and power than ever before. He is
also as strong and fit as he’s ever been, and flies around the court roping
balls crosscourt and down-the-line. Stan is very hard to break, even when he is
serving at a 55% first serve percentage like he did in the final against Nadal,
because even if his percentage is somewhat low he wins a very high number of
points when he makes his first delivery. He is able to control the point with
that first serve right away and the way he is hitting his groundstrokes it is
near impossible to get control of the point as a receiver. Even though Nadal’s
back locked up on him during the early part of the 2nd set in
yesterday’s final, he showed all of us why he is without question the No. 1
player in the world right now. He could barely serve or move, and knew it was
going to take a monumental effort and historic collapse in order for him to
prevail. However, Nadal did not give in and managed to sneak out the third set
and make the fourth competitive until the very end. Nadal should be commended for
sticking it out when he was clearly less than 100 percent, but nothing should
be taken away from Stan’s performance in the final and throughout the
tournament. For his efforts, he will wake up Monday morning as a Grand Slam
champion and the number one Suisse player in the rankings, above Federer, for
the first time in his career. Not a bad two weeks for a man who was set at
451/1 odds of winning the title before the tournament. I’ll leave you with
evidence of just how good the ‘Stanimal’ was during the Aussie Open:
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