What an epic! And nobody could see it coming at all!
Wawrinka definitely played one of the best match of his career. The Swiss (and we are not talking about Roger) had an incredible head start to lead 6-1 4-1 in really no time. Stan managed to break Djokovic 4 consecutive times (!!?) to get that lead.
A crucial part of the entire match was when the Swiss failed to grab the second set when he was 5-3 on his serve to lose a crucial game (4 unforced errors) and lose the set 7-5.
Then Nole’s game went up to allow the Serb to win the third set. Game over? Not really! Stan won the 4th set at the tiebreak to then move to an absolutely epic in the 5th set where Nole won 12-10 in 104 minutes!
From Nole
“It was one of the longest, most interesting, and most exciting matches I played in my career,” said Djokovic,
“I just had a flashback of 2012 in the final. It was maybe 45 minutes less in this match than the one 12 months ago, but it was still as exciting. I guess everybody enjoyed the match. I tried to perform my best, enjoy the moment, be in the present, and couldn’t ask for more. What a match point. Unbelievable.”
“When I was 6-1, 5-2 down, I believed that I can come back if I am two sets down. I’ve been in those situations before,” he added
From Wawrinka
“I think it’s by far the best match I’ve ever played, especially in five sets against the number one player,” said Wawrinka.
“Especially as I was dealing with myself all the five hours, trying to always find a solution, trying to always fight against myself and against him to stay with him.
“At the end I was really, really close. For sure I’m really sad. It’s a big disappointment to lose that match, but I think there are more positives than negatives.”
Quarters vs Berdych
Nole will play Berdych in the quarters. Head to head is 11-1 for Nole, but the Serb will be dead tired, Tomas knows it and he will try to take full advantage. This 5 hours match could be a disaster if future opponents will take advantage of it.
