Australian Open 2014: Stanislas Wawrinka ends eternal pursuit with epic win over Novak Djokovic

Perseverance pays a handsome dividend. The Australian Open quarterfinal between Stanislas Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic will serve to add to a mountain of empirical evidence that supports the virtues of it. In their third straight Grand Slam classic, Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka played out a four hour marathon which had all the ingredients that make the best of five format such an alluring treat to fans and players alike. It was a case of third time lucky for Wawrinka, who suffered stinging defeats at the Australian and US Open tournaments in 2013 to the relentless Serbian. Eventually, the Swiss earned a most awaited victory, when Djokovic muffed an easy put away volley to leave Wawrinka victorious 6-2, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 9-7.

The early part of the match offered no warning of the mighty reversal that was about to rock a packed Margaret Court Arena. Wawrinka made a couple of errors from his normally dependable backhand and Djokovic nailed a volley winner to hold at love to kick off their eagerly anticipated quarterfinal encounter.

Wawrinka has lost 14 straight matches to Djokovic but has been gaining in confidence over the past year under the studied guidance of Swede Magnus Norman. The set progressed on serve till 3-2, before the Swiss blinked first. The world No.8 made three straight errors off his forehand to gift the first break of the match to Djokovic.

Serving to stay in the first set, Wawrinka wasted a game point as he made a couple of errors, once again off his errant forehand. Djokovic attacked the next point to nab the set with a scorching forehand cross court winner. The signs were ominous for Wawrinka, who was sending only 44% of his first serves into play. He also threw in as many as 16 unforced errors to pave the way for a dominant start for Djokovic.

However, the start of the second saw the emergence of a more belligerent, recently familiar version of the Swiss. Staring at a noose at 0-30 in the second game, Wawrinka let out a guttural scream of relief after a patent backhand down the line winner that followed a service winner and an ace to help him hold serve.

The game somehow seemed to awaken the spirit within, rousing the warrior that has been living inside the Swiss man with a deceptively pleasant visage. Djokovic was clearly in trouble at 0-40 in the next game, but the former world No.1 displayed his grit and determination to stave off any immediate damage and keep his nose in front at 2-1.

By now though, Wawrinka was playing with the confidence of a man who knew he had the tools to hurt the man across the net. It helped as he pounced on a lone opportunity in the seventh game, striking a forehand down the line winner to take the lead at 4-3. Wawrinka threatened to self destruct in the next game, with a double fault on game point, but a timely backhand volley winner and ace helped consolidate the valuable break.

At 30-15 in the 10th game, the Swiss benefited through some largesse from his opponent; a couple of backhand errors from Djokovic gifting the set to Wawrinka, who was now level with the 3-time champion. The Swiss was on a steep ascent and Djokovic was suffering under the heavy heels of his opponent. A couple of errors again from Djokovic helped the Swiss seal an early break in the third game of the next set.

There was cause for alarm in the Boris Becker-led camp of the Serbian as he made three straight errors to fall back 1-4 in the third set. Wawrinka was on a roll and though Djokovic held his next service game, it only served to keep the set alive a little longer. Wawrinka survived a double fault in the eighth game to serve his way to a two sets to one lead with a slice serve that was nearly unreturnable.

The Serbian was staring down the barrel, but showed enough determination to get through a deuce game at the start of the fourth to hold serve with a service winner. As he worked his way back into the match, Djokovic held to love twice in a row to reinvigorate his flagging senses. It was a phase that allowed the Serbian the liberty to attack Wawrinka’s serve and the relentlessness of that started to soften the Swiss ever so slowly.

After a couple of testy service games, which extended to deuce more than once, Wawrinka finally gave way in the eighth game. Comfortably placed at 40-0, the embattled Swiss astonished everyone with five straight errors to surrender a vital break. He battled hard to force a break off the Serbian in the next game, but a couple of aces rescued Djokovic, who held to draw level at two sets apiece and force the decisive fifth set.

This was Djokovic territory – the Swiss had failed to win the match each time the duo extended the contest into a fifth set, twice at Grand Slam events and once in the Davis Cup. Just last year, Wawrinka suffered a poignant and painful defeat, 10-12 in the final set of a drawn out fourth round encounter. Wawrinka though was intent on rewriting his script, having suffered endlessly at the hands of the irrepressible Serbian.

He began with an ace to hold serve in the first game, but Djokovic showed why he was such a resilient competitor by snatching a break in the third game. Wawrinka missed a simple volley to offer break point and Djokovic dragged the Swiss wide on the next point before taking advantage of the open space to nail the break.

Not to be outdone that easily, Wawrinka swung into action straight away. A forehand return winner and a couple of untimely forehand errors from Djokovic were enough to nullify the break and bring the final set back on serve at 2-2. Wawrinka got through another tough game, a 13 point battle with a couple of aces when needed to keep himself in front at 4-3.

When Wawrinka held to love in the ninth game, Djokovic was faced with the prospect of constantly serving to stay in the match unless he clinched a break. The stakes were high and while the quality of the game remained consistently high, it was clear that there was a hint of safety in the demeanour of the two weary warriors. The set remained on serve till Wawrinka took an 8-7 lead with a cracking forehand down the line winner.

The match drew to an end in the next game – Djokovic, probably worn out by the effort, making a series of errors off his forehand. A cross court forehand from the Serbian came unstuck when its trajectory was halted abruptly by the net in the middle. It was all that Wawrinka really needed, his first match point, as Djokovic flailed an easy forehand volley into the tramlines to offer a well earned victory to his familiar foe.

Incidentally, Wawrinka won eight points fewer than Djokovic, but as can happen in tennis sometimes the Swiss did take those that really mattered. None more important than the last of those, his 153rd of the match against 161 for the Serbian. The final set alone lasted 79 arduous minutes in a contest that lasted exactly four hours. It was a match of minimal margin – each of them making 60 errors each, but Wawrinka had 51 winners to 45 for Djokovic.

There were just nine breaks of serve through the 53 game match – Djokovic converted 4 of 7 opportunities and Wawrinka took 5 of 10 chances – most importantly the last of those breaks fell to Wawrinka and that sealed the fate of the defending champion. The victory for Wawrinka helped him reach his first semifinal at the Australian Open, his only other appearance at this stage of a major came at the US Open last year.

The Swiss will have relatively less to fear, at least psychologically, about his opponent in the semifinals. While this was only Wawrinka’s third victory in 20 matches against Djokovic, he has won three of his four matches against Tomas Berdych last year. Wawrinka also has a healthy 8-5 career edge over the Czech player, who is ranked just a spot above the Swiss in the rankings.

Berdych was a finalist at Wimbledon in 2010 and while he has also made the semis at the French Open (2010) and the US Open (2012), this is also his first instance of a semifinal at the Australian Open. With Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray each in the other half of the draw – there is a real prospect of a first time Grand Slam winner come Sunday in Melbourne. We have an intriguing few days ahead of us, belt up and enjoy the action.