2019 US Open: Stan Wawrinka Dismantles World No 1 Novak Djokovic

The Arthur Ashe Stadium was packed with spectators in excitement to witness two of tennis’ great players compete for a place in the quarter-finals of the 2019 US Open championship. The defending champion Novak Djokovic was up against Stan Wawrinka, a three-time grand slam champion who won two out of these three by beating the man he was about to play on the night.

Earlier in the day, it had been a walk in the park for Roger Federer to see off David Goffin in straight sets. Novak has tremendous defensive and offensive skills on the hard court but Stan Wawrinka is the one guy who pushes him behind the baseline to prevent him from dictating the pace of the game as he usually does. Prior to this match Novak had already lost their last two grand slam encounters being the finals of Roland Garros and US Open in 2015 and 2016 respectively this it was probably a moment of redemption for the world No. 1 

Both players held on to their serve until the 5th game of the first set when Stan broke Djokovic’s serve right after he had saved one from him in the fourth game. In the 6th game, Novak had two chances to break right back but the ferocious serves from Stan were too strong for the best returner in the game to contain as Stan saved another the breakpoint to extend his lead to 4-2 within 31 minutes of the first Set. Stan went on to win the first set by 6-4.

Novak got the second set rolling and after going 1-0 up on his serve he got an early breakpoint and converted as it was obvious Stan was struggling with his serve in that game. Novak’s ubiquitous dominance was now being felt when he served again to go up 3-0 in set two. 

The match had gone beyond description per the skills the two men were displaying on the court. In the seventh game, Stan got his broke back to put the set back on serve at 4-3 in favour of Novak Djokovic. Stan was then about serving to draw even. It is said that there’s no other player on tour with one-handed backhand who is able to stand toe-to-toe with Novak’s two-handed backhand and Stan made it manifest once again by serving to draw level at 4-4. 

At 5-5 still in the second set, Stan broke again to move up 6-5 and had the opportunity to serve for the second set and he did with a stunning performance to win it by 7-5.

Novak started the third set but this time the mounting was too big to climb and he succumbed to Stan Wawrinka by retiring in the third game of the set after Stan broke his serve again. There were signs of pain on his left shoulder, an injury we all knew was present before the match but it takes nothing away from the sensational way Stan displayed his prowess on the court on Sunday evening in New York.  Wawrinka will play Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals.

By: Isaac Augustus Ogoe/Ghana