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3 recent biggest upsets in a grand slam final

Over the past decade, the grand slams were usually dominated by the “big four” (Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Murray). At least one or both players from the “big four” would usually contest the grand slam final. However, there have been instances when a player outside the top four managed to defy the odds and broke this ritual by not only making it to the final but also producing a vintage performance to win the final. Therefore, in this article, we look at the three recent biggest upsets in a grand slam final.

The 2014 Australian open finall left Nadal in tears
The aftermath of the 2014 Australian open final left Nadal in tears

#3. Australian Open 2014 Final – Stanislas Wawrinka def. Rafael Nadal 6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3

The 2014 Australian open final was contested between Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka and Spain’s Rafael Nadal. Wawarink seeded eight, defeated Novak Djokovic in a five set thriller in the quarter-final and Tomas Berdych in four sets in semi-final. Nadal was the number one seed, fended off a resilient Grigor Dimitrov in four sets in the quarter-final and trounced Federer in straight sets in the semi-final. Wawrinka had spent more time on court than Nadal to reach the final.

The first set in the final was all about Wawrinka. He was unplayable and winning points hand over fist. His backhand, forehand and serve had an adrenaline rush. The decisive moment in the first set came in the fourth game when Nadal mistimed two drop shots to give Wawrinka two break points and Swiss happily obliged by forcing an error from Nadal and taking a crucial break in the first set. However, Nadal had three consecutive break points at 0-40 when Wawrinka was served for the set at 5-3, but a series of unforced errors from Nadal saw the chances slip away and Wawrinka eventually went on to win first set 6-3.

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The final was marred by Nadal's back injury

In the second set, Wawrinka broke Nadal in the opening game and held his serve to lead 2-0. It was at this stage, Nadal‘s body started to show signs of pain and distress. He slumped his back in pain and left the Rod Lever area to administer his back pain. The medical time-out apparently provoked the crowd in the Rod Lever arena as they welcomed back Nadal by booing him after a six-minute time-out.

 Also read, 6 unlikely players who defeated Rafael Nadal at a Grand Slam

From here on, it went all downhill for Nadal, he started to become less mobile on the court and his serving speed descended to 130/120 km/h. Wawrinka made the most of this opportunity and won the second set 6-2, sitting firmly in the driver’s seat. 

The third set started on a vibrant note for Nadal. He was serving first in the opening game of the third set and was down 15-40, but a few unforced errors from Wawrinka enabled Nadal to save two break points and to hold his serve. In the following game, Nadal had a break point at 30-40, and another unforced error cost Wawrinka his service game and Nadal finally broke Wawrinka’s serve to get an important lead in the third set. It seemed like Nadal had slightly recovered from his back injury, as he was able to move a bit more freely and serving speed was touching 170 plus km/h. Rest of the third set remained on serve, with Nadal winning the set 6-3 and now the momentum was with Nadal.  

In the fourth set, Nadal continued to show signs of pain and anguish and Wawrinka showed signs of urgency to finish the match. Wawrinka‘s first serve was working like a dream, clocking 200 plus km/pr. Nadal’s back injury wasn’t letting him play his natural game. At 3-2, in the fourth set, Wawrinka broke Nadal’s serve to get a 4-2 lead. But over-excitement and nervousness, saw Wawrinka make a couple of unforced errors to give the break back to Nadal, it was now back on serve 4-3. However, Nadal’s back was not with him, Wawrinka broke Nadal again to get a 5-3 lead and served comfortably to win the fourth set 6-3 and was the newly crowned Australian Open champion. Given the circumstances, this cannot entirely be called an upset. But, note that Wawrinka is the first and the only player till date to have beaten Nadal and Djokovic in the same grand slam; hence he deserved to be the 2014 Australian Open champion. 

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