US Open: A retrospective of Novak Djokovic's final heartbreaks at Flushing Meadows

#5 2016: Lost to Wawrinka 7-6(1) 4-6 5-7 3-6

Djokovic lost a 5th US Open title match to Wawrinka in 2016

Following victories over Tsonga and Monfils in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively, defending champion Djokovic arrived in his seventh US Open final and his sixth in the last seven years where Stan Wawrinka lay in wait.

The pair's previous Grand Slam final meeting was at the 2015 French Open which went the Swiss' way after Djokovic had taken the opening set.

The 2016 final followed a similar script to the one which unfolded in Paris a year ago.

Djokovic took a 5-2 lead only for Wawrinka to fight back to force a tiebreak which went his way as the Serb took a one set lead.

But Wawrinka exhibited little nerves or big stage fright against the top-seeded Serb. After relinquishing an early break in the second, the Swiss broke Djokovic in the tenth game of the set to level the match at one set all.

Wawrinka rode on two breaks of Djokovic's serve in the third to take a two-sets-to-one lead.

In the fourth set, Djokovic, with a bloodied toe, fought valiantly but couldn't keep up with the Swiss as Wawrinka beat the Serb for the second time in as many Grand Slam meetings to win his first US Open title and a third Grand Slam.

The defeat made Djokovic the only player in the Open Era after Ivan Lendl (1982-84, 1988-89 at the US Open) and Andy Murray (2010-11, 2013, 2015-16 at the Australian Open) to lose five finals at a Grand Slam.