Stanislas Wawrinka Upset Shows Novak Djokovic’s Intimidation Factor Is Gone

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: January 21, 2014

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For the past three years, Novak Djokovic has been the king of Australia, dominating Down Under like very few men before him.

That reign, however, ended in stunning fashion on Tuesday. With it went any remaining semblance of the Serbian’s invincibility against players not named Rafael Nadal.  

In a surprising setback, the defending champion fell to Stanislas Wawrinka in a five-set quarterfinal thriller at the 2014 Australian Open, denying Djokovic a chance at a four-peat and raising reasonable questions as to his vulnerability late in Grand Slams.

Djokovic has now lost in the quarterfinals or later in four straight majors, including twice to players ranked and seeded beneath him. The 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7 loss to Wawrinka is especially curious considering Djokovic was riding a 28-match win streak and had beaten the No. 8-seeded Wawrinka in each of their previous 14 meetings.



Yet, on Tuesday, it was Wawrinka who made all the key shots on the decisive points late in the match, ultimately breaking the world’s second-ranked player to claim the career-defining victory.

The triumph reverses five-set losses to Djokovic in the fourth round of last year’s Australian Open as well as the semifinals of the U.S. Open six months ago; it also represents the first time in 15 majors that the Serbian has failed to reach at least the semifinals.

Following the match, Djokovic spoke frankly, per Piers Newbery of BBC Sport: 

You know, I gave it my best. I gave it all. I tried to come out as the winner. I tried to fight until the last point as I did in a very similar match we did last year in the fourth round, same court, but it wasn't to be this time.



Not only was it not meant to be, but the performance leaves the four-time Australian champion with another disappointing end to a Grand Slam title run after being considered ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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