Rafael Nadal vs. Stanislas Wawrinka: Examining Historical Impact of Men’s Final

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at Internationaled.org

Published: January 26, 2014

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If you saw this coming, give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back.



Considering that Novak Djokovic lost in the Australian Open quarterfinals and Rafael Nadal knocked out Roger Federer himself in the semifinals, it looked like the No. 1 ranked Nadal was well on his way to taking home the first Grand Slam title of 2014.

All he had to do was get past the relatively unheralded No. 8 Stanislas Wawrinka.

As Greg Garber of ESPN.com pointed out, not even the biggest Wawrinka supporters could foresee a victory over the dominant Nadal:

Optimists pointed out that three of their past four sets, in London and Shanghai, went to tiebreakers, but few -- if any -- truly believed Wawrinka could beat the 13-time Grand Slam singles champion in a best-of-five match.

But in the fortnight of his life, Wawrinka has continually defied the gravity of history, suspending his (and our) disbelief.

Then the match started.

Wawrinka cruised to what was a relatively straightforward four-set victory 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. It is only fair to point out that Nadal suffered what looked to be a serious back injury in the second set that likely hampered him for the remainder of the match.



However, Wawrinka’s victory should not come with an asterisk.

Wawrinka was already in control of the match after winning the first set and looked extremely comfortable in the second. What’s more, Nadal actually won the third set after his injury took place, but Wawrinka was undeterred.



The championship wrapped up an incredible tournament for Wawrinka that included victories over No. 28 Vasek Pospisil, No. 17 Tommy Robredo, No. 2 Novak Djokovic and No. 7 Tomas Berdych. The Djokovic match went the full five sets, and the Berdych showdown featured three tiebreakers in four sets.

As for Nadal, the loss is surely disappointing, but he shouldn&...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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