Australian Open 2014: Stanislas Wawrinka Win over Rafael Nadal a Boon to Tennis

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: January 26, 2014

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Stanislas Wawrinka's victory over Rafael Nadal in the 2014 Australian Open men's final was the best thing that could have happened to men's tennis.

The Swiss player long known as someone who could give top players a run for their money (but who could never finish the deal) finally broke through with a four-set win (6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2) over the No. 1 player in the world on one of the world's biggest stages. 



Tennis fans love their champions, but there's nothing better than watching an underdog fight through a brutal draw to win a Grand Slam title, which is what Wawrinka did at Melbourne Park for two weeks this January. 

Nadal came into the final angling for his 14th Grand Slam championship. He'd never before lost a single set to Wawrinka in 12 previous matches—two of which came in majors. It was a given that he'd cruise to another title against an opponent who'd never before shown an ability to hang on the court.

On the other side, Wawrinka had already bettered his previous attempts at the Australian Open (or any other Grand Slam, for that matter) by just reaching the final.



This is a guy who, before the tournament, downplayed his own expectations, as noted by AusOpen.com:

But I'm not thinking I'm not winning a Grand Slam. I'm too far away. I'm trying to improve my game. I'm trying to control what I can. That's mean the practice. That's mean my schedule, always to try to improve, to be a better player. The rest we'll see.

His comments can be viewed as highly realistic, given his past struggles, and in hindsight, it's clear the Swiss champion wasn't lacking confidence when it came to crunch time. 



After receiving a couple of breaks early in the form of an early retirement by Andrey Golubev in Round 1 and a walkover in Round 3, Wawrinka faced long odds in the latter rounds. He dispatched Tommy Robredo (N...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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