Stanislas Wawrinka tames Rafael Nadal to win maiden Grand Slam at Australian Open

Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka holds the trophy after his victory against Spain’s Rafael Nadal during the men’s singles final on day 14 of the 2014 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2014.

We have a new Australian Open champion!

A bright light has emerged from the perennial shadow of the mighty Roger Federer. Stanislas Wawrinka has finally laid a marker of his own at Melbourne with a thumping display of attacking tennis. The world No.8 played near flawless tennis for much of the evening as he surged past the resilient Rafael Nadal to clinch his maiden Grand Slam title. Wawrinka took 2 hours and 21 minutes to achieve the near impossible and tame Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to take the Norman Brooks Challenge trophy.

On a brilliantly lit Australia day, neither the fireworks in the distance nor the difficulties facing his opponent could prevent the genial Swiss from marching towards a very well deserved victory. Wawrinka joins Juan Martin Del Potro (US Open, 2009) as the only man outside of the top four to have won a Grand Slam tournament since 2005. Wawrinka also became the first player since Sergei Bruguera in 1993 to defeat the top two players enroute to Grand Slam glory.

The heavy underdog needed a good start and Nadal, who won the toss, chose to receive. Serving first, the Swiss could not find his first serve, but swung his forehand with great freedom to hustle Nadal and take the first game. Not to be outdone, Nadal wasted little time to get on the board moving in with venomous purpose to finish the second game with a stinging forehand winner.

Wawrinka made the first move – aided by a double fault from Nadal, the Swiss scented an opportunity in the fourth game. With Nadal stuck at the net, Wawrinka struck a thunderous backhand that forced the error to earn two break points. He took it immediately, this time using his forehand to telling effect to gain the first break of the match.

Playing with a new found resolve, Wawrinka served out the next game drawing out the first ace of the match and a couple of service winners to take a 4-1 lead. Wawrinka had never won a set against Nadal in twelve encounters, neither that nor the fact that this was his first ever Grand Slam final impeded the Swiss.

Wawrinka earned another break point with a fine backhand volley winner in the sixth game, but Nadal found a service winner just in time to avert further damage. Wawrinka had held 33 straight games at this Australian Open and Nadal ensured he needed to do so one more time to earn the set by holding serve in the eighth game.

On the verge of winning his first set against Nadal, Wawrinka stumbled to 0-40 in the ninth game when Nadal punched a ferocious forehand into the far corner. But just as it seemed like the advantage might slip away, Wawrinka steadied his nerves to win five points on the trot, the last with an ace to seal the set in 37 minutes.

Impressively, the Swiss had done so despite only managing to get 38% first serves into play. Wawrinka had double the winners – 12 to 6 from Nadal and won all five points when he forayed to the net. Wawrinka won each of his first serve points and converted one of two break points to force Nadal on the defensive.

If Nadal expected a different tune at the start of the second set, Wawrinka surprised him by staying with him through a 22 shot rally before taking it with a stinging forehand winner. Another forehand winner followed and Nadal was down 0-30 in the first game. Wawrinka stretched Nadal on his forehand side to earn three more break points. A backhand return winner with both his feet off the ground earned him the break.

At 1-2 in the second set, still down a break, Nadal walked off court with the physio much to the consternation of Wawrinka. The Swiss had a lengthy altercation with the chair umpire, Carlos Ramos, even as Nadal received treatment for a suspect back. When he returned on court, Nadal was booed by the crowd and Wawrinka showed he hadn’t lost composure by holding to take a 3-1 lead.

Visibly discomfited by some problem, Nadal added another double fault as he stumbled to another break in the second set. Wawrinka seemed distracted by his opponent, but survived deuce in the next game to get within a game of taking a two set lead.

Nadal was quickly down a couple of break points in the next game, serving to stay in the set, but the Spaniard staved off three set points to force Wawrinka to serve out the set at 5-2. His nerves getting the better of him, Wawrinka started game eight with a double fault.

Wawrinka recovered quickly though to serve out an ace and a forehand winner to earn two more set points. The Swiss took control of the match by finishing with an ace to take the second set. The world No.8 improved his first serve percentage to 65% and reeled away 16 more winners to clinch the set.

At the start of the third set, Nadal was in early trouble when he was down a couple of break points in the first game. But Wawrinka failed to take advantage and the Spaniard showed his immense willpower by striking a clean winner to hold serve. The resolute Nadal struck a forehand up the line winner to gain two break points in the second game, as he started to work his way back.

Wawrinka saved the first with an ace, but made a forehand error on the next point to surrender the break. Another forehand in the net left the Swiss down 0-3, as the errors mounted for the suddenly lacklustre challenger from Lausanne. Clearly struggling for focus, Wawrinka finally held serve in the fourth game, aided by his 16th ace of the match.

Nadal kept his end steady by winning the fifth game, even as the errors mounted for Wawrinka. The Swiss was struggling for consistency, and it seemed like an effort for him to even hold serve. Meanwhile, Nadal seemed to be getting better with each passing game, as he struck a couple of stinging off-forehand winners to gain a 5-2 lead.

Serving to take the third at 5-3, Nadal was down a couple of break points. But Wawrinka was far from his best and he paid the penalty for 19 unforced errors as he netted a backhand return to end the set in favour of Nadal. The Spaniard saved all four breakpoints he faced in that set to find his way into this final.

Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka reacts after a point against Spain’s Rafael Nadal during the men’s singles final on day 14 of the 2014 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2014.

Wawrinka had a couple of opportunities to break in the second game of the fourth set, but Nadal was equal to the task. The set stayed on serve to the fifth game, as Wawrinka held to 3-2 with a couple of aces. A backhand into the net from Nadal gave two break points to Wawrinka in the next game and a forehand up the line winner from Wawrinka sealed a 4-2 lead.

There was to be more drama though and Wawrinka, unsure of his feet messed a couple of easy forehands to fall to 0-40 in the seventh game. He sought to attack on the next point, but failed to keep his forehand in play to surrender the advantage almost immediately.

Wawrinka used his backhand to good effect as he engaged Nadal in a lengthy rally that ended when the Spaniard failed to control a backhand on the stretch. On the next point Nadal was drawn forward and could only net his backhand to offer two more break points to the Swiss. Wawrinka pointed to his temple after striking a clean forehand winner to take the break and a 5-3 lead.

When Nadal found the net with his backhand a couple of points later, Wawrinka edged closer to a dream at 30-0. A big serve followed and the Swiss gained three championship points. Another forehand winner sealed a great victory that he might celebrate for the remainder of his life.

Just as Robin Soderling, who beat Nadal with his stunning forehand in 2009, Wawrinka achieved the improbably by attacking from the start of the match. Incidentally, Magnus Norman was Soderling’s coach at the time as he is with Wawrinka now, who will become the world No.3 when the rankings are released on Monday.

Wawrinka had 53 winners to just 19 from Nadal, but the fact that he also had 49 errors to 32 underlined the fact that the match was played off the Swiss player’s racquet for much of that nearly two-and-a-half-hour encounter. The Swiss also won 11 of 12 points he played at the net and took five of 15 break points to clinch the biggest victory of his career.

Wawrinka had never won anything bigger than an ATP World Tour 250 event prior to this match. But from Monday, Wawrinka will stop being the other Swiss as he takes his own place in the history of the great game. For the vanquished Nadal, he remains the top ranked player and has to wait till Paris this summer to emulate Pete Sampras‘s collection of 14 major titles.