Extraordinary Heroics At The Meadows

By winning the 2016 us open men’s and women’s titles, Stan Wawrinka and Angelique Kerber have signalled their arrival after struggling throughout their early careers.

- Tanmoy Mukherjee

No Roger Federer to begin with. A packed tennis season with the Olympics thrown in. The season-ending US Open of 2016 had opportunity written all over it for the pretenders. And yet, there was a small matter of overcoming World Nos. 1 and 2 and aresurgent Rafael Nadal. And while the Big Four—Novak Djokovic, Federer, Andy Murray and Nadal—battle to hold off challenges in their later lives, another of their ilk has found a gear he never knew existed in him.

Stan Wawrinka stumbled, got back on his feet, shimmied with his feet and blazed a trail of that awesome single-handed backhand on his way to the title, his third Grand Slam, with another victory over Djokovic, who he beat in the final of the French Open last year. From dropping opening sets to facing a match point in the third round, Wawrinka battled every point on the court as much as he did in his mind.

“He loves to play on the big stage against big players, because that’s when he, I think, elevates his level of performance in his game.” Djokovic doesn’t mince words when assessing an opponent’s game. “He was more courageous. He stepped in and played aggressive where I was kind of more waiting for things to happen. I lost my nerves in the important moments. He kept his cool.”

It was a hard-fought tournament throughout the two weeks, with a majority of the games in the later stages going four sets and above. The wear began to show on Djokovic who had already come into the tournament with a wrist injury, but found himself in the final thanks to three retirements, including one in the quarterfinal against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. As he was treated mid-game in the final, he couldn’t weather Wawrinka, who grew in confidence, and indeed in stature, to close it out 6–7, 6–4, 7–5, 6–3.