(June 7, 2015) Stan Wawrinka denied Novak Djokovic entrance into the “career Grand Slam club” defeating the world No. 1 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to capture his first French Open title and second major. Djokovic was bidding to become the the eighth man to win all four majors at least once.
The 2014 Australian Open champion and No. 8 seed also snapped the Serb’s 28-match winning streak.
This was Djokovic’s third time in the Roland Garros final, falling to Rafael Nadal in 2012 and 2014. Djokovic defeated Nadal in the quarterfinals this year and followed it up by taking out third seed Andy Murray in the semifinals, a match which took two days to complete.
“One day, you will win Roland Garros,” Wawrinka said to Djokovic during the trophy ceremony. “You deserve it.”
“I can tell you,” Djokovic said, “that I will keep trying to win this trophy.”
Djokovic won the first set 6-4, holding on to a break achieved in the seventh game, when Wawrinka double-faulted.
Wawrinka finally capitalized on a break point at an opportune moment – to win the second set 6-4.
The momentum swung to the Swiss in the third set as he became the aggressor and broke serve to take a 4-2 lead and held on to claim the set 6-3.
The match looked to be headed to a fifth set when Djokovic jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Wawrinka fought back to get on even terms at 3-3.
Serving at 3-4 in the fourth, Wawrinka came back from 0-40 to hold for 4-4. In the next game Wawrinka broke Djokovic and served out the set for the victory.
This was only the fourth time that the Swiss had defeated the Serb in their 21 meetings.
Wawrinka hit 60 winners in the match, winning a total of 137 points in the 3 hours and 12 minute match.
Three-time Roland Garros champion and tennis Hall of Famer Gustavo Kuerten presented the trophy to Wawrinka.
“Certainly one of the best matches of my career, if not the best,” Wawrinka said
“Not easy to stand there as a runner-up again,” Djokovic said, “but I lost to a better player who played some courageous tennis.”
The 28-year-old Djokovic called Wawrinka’s backhand “one of the best one-handed backhands that I have seen.”
“I’m still surprised the way I played, because I think I played amazing today,” Wawrinka said. “I was really nervous, but I didn’t really choke. I was always going for my shots, always going for the right play.”
“It’s quite strange when I tell myself that I have a (Olympic) gold medal and Davis Cup, and that I have two Grand Slams. (It’s) something quite amazing. I never expected to go this far in my career; never expected to be this strong.”
Wawrinka, who also won the French Open as a junior back in 2003, will move up to No 4 in the world when the rankings are released on Monday.