Australian Open 2014: Stan Wawrinka - Breaching the Serbian frontier

It was the one match that promised excitement and intrigue in an otherwise insipid draw. True to form, the quarter-final match between Stanislas Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic lived up to its promise; bringing in not just excitement and intrigue, but also the biggest upset of the tournament as well.

Heading into the game with a 15-2 head-to-head over his 8th seeded opponent, Novak Djokovic was indeed the favourite on paper but no one was taking the match-up lightly. Especially in view of the previous two marathons – one of them at Melbourne Park itself, exactly a year ago – that Wawrinka and Djokovic had run between them. Chances of predicting a clear favourite thus weren’t taken at all, though everyone agreed that the match could indeed go to the decider, just like the year before.

But the way the first set panned out, with the defending champion winning it 6-2 in 31 minutes, even a four-setter looked improbable. Not just because Djokovic played well – indeed he did – but also because of the ‘loose cannon’ manner of Wawrinka’s shot-making. Wawrinka got in just 44% first serves in and managed to win just 64% of his first serve points. Even worse were the points won off his second serve at 43%. In contrast, even though Djokovic’s first serve statistics weren’t exactly outstanding with 59% first serves in and 69% of first serve points won; the 78% points won off his second serve allowed him to maintain the upper hand throughout the course of the first set.

Two breaks of serve, in the fifth and the seventh game, allowed Djokovic to get ahead in the match even as Wawrinka looked surprisingly out-of-sorts at the other end. But the stride of momentum in Djokovic’s game didn’t continue for long as Wawrinka took control in the second set, despite a shaky start, breaking Djokovic’s serve in the eighth game of the set. He eventually went on to win the set, serving it out in the 10th game to level the match at one set apiece.

Shots flowed from both wings of Wawrinka; where in the first set, he seemed to miss more points as the set progressed, he looked to be more in control as proceedings continued in the second. Shades of full-range shot-making of Wawrinka made an unmistakable appearance and Djokovic was left scrambling, playing more defence than offense.

The third set played out in an almost similar manner; Wawrinka took early control of the set securing an early break in the third game itself. Djokovic made substantial inroads into the net, winning 6/7 net points, but it was the Swiss who dictated their end, despite not coming to the net even once. And when Wawrinka conjured up all those gloriously free-flowing winners, the Serb wasn’t able to do much except give a wry grin and an applauding tap to his racquet, acknowledging the Swiss’ superiority.

The Swiss roared and yelled, Magnus Norman and Severin Luthi raucous in their rooting of their protege as well; but Djokovic’s Ajde and chest-pumping shouts were eerily muted, but not the support of his team which kept motivating him, Boris Becker the most prominent amongst them.

When the fourth set began and Djokovic began to set its tone with more focused shot-making rather than concentrating on merely putting the ball back into play, the Serbian’s camp showed his rejuvenation with clenched fist pumps and enthusiastic cheers even as Wawrinka looked frustrated yet again about relinquishing control of the match. He hit 16 winners as opposed to six in the previous set, made just eight unforced errors to the previous set’s 13 and won 82% of points at the net.

The guttural roar that Djokovic gave after winning the set in the ninth game saw him at his pumped-up best throughout the course of the match. He seemed to be back in the groove, especially during the initial moments of the decider when Wawrinka looked to be tired and drained. Indeed, after Djokovic broke to secure an early lead in the final set in the third game, it looked as if Djokovic would seal the deal making it to his fourth consecutive semi-final at the Australian Open.

But Wawrinka’s persistence and tenacity saw him break back bringing the match back on serve. Incredibly, the high quality nature of the match sustained through the first four sets went up a notch then as each player held on to nerves along with their serves. Both committed errors in their quest to make their opponent blink first, shanked backhands and miscued forehands became frequently interspersed with brilliant winners and passes. Both players took risks, played going-for-broke shots that earned them points as much as they cost them heavily when they missed hitting the mark.

The much-discussed marathon seemed inevitable then, between the two, who had started to resemble like a queer yin-yang in their contrasting apparel. In the high-strung atmosphere, it looked very likely that Wawrinka would crumble first. But even though Wawrinka’s serves went 30-30 on almost all occasion requiring him to come up with aces to get him out of trouble, it was Djokovic who missed out an important forehand volley at the net at match point in the 16th game leaving Wawrinka stunned and speechless in the aftermath of victory.

And though Wawrinka ended the match a winner, there were still glaring discrepancies between the two players for the day. Djokovic had more points won to his name – 161 to Wawrinka’s 156, he put in more first serves than Wawrinka – 73 to the latter’s 58, had a higher margin of second serve points won – 57% to Wawrinka’s 50% and had more successful net approaches – 74% to the Swiss’ 67%. But to his detriment, Djokovic failed to consolidate these positives with more winners and fewer unforced errors. These ultimately buoyed Wawrinka’s chances to win the match, despite all of Djokovic’s endeavours to win yet another epic.