Stan Wawrinka worked painfully hard in taking down Andy Murray at the French Open, which doesn’t seem fair at all, considering the Swiss will now have to take on Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s championship match.<\/b>
\nIt was as ugly as it was thrilling. But in the end, as Stan Wawrinka stood on Court Philippe Chatrier in exultation, pointing to his head, it was about big-match acuity.
Wawrinka took out Andy Murray in a 4-hour, 34-minute marathon Friday to reach the French Open final. Wawrinka, one of the most fearless hitters in the game, donated an obscene amount of unforced errors, 77 in all, and still beat the world No. 1.
After all the build, the fifth set was anticlimactic by comparison, with Wawrinka breaking his opponent four times. If that doesn’t speak to acing a pressure situation, then we’re not sure what does.
Wawrinka’s gift (or is it a cruel joke?) : Rafael Nadal in the final. But we’ll get to that in a moment.
For now, let’s take a deeper dive into Wawrinka’s latest and greatest win, thanks to our unstoppable Stats & Info gang:
Won his fourth career match over a No. 1 in Grand Slam play; only Nadal (8) and Boris Becker (5) have more
Improves to 26-20 in tour-level career in five-setters; the only active player who has played more five-setters is his countryman Roger Federer
Improves to 9-2 in five-setters at the French Open, his best five-set record at any of the four major tournaments
Despite all the errors Friday, Wawrinka smacked 87 winners as well, equaling the total of his three previous matches combined
Not bad for an old guy, eh? Check out this piece of info:
And if that doesn’t impress you, perhaps this will?
Wawrinka has won all three major finals he’s played. Only one player in the Open era has had a longer winning streak in Grand Slam finals. You might know him by the name of Roger Federer.
Fed’s streak happened to be his first seven finals. Since then, though, Federer has not strung together more than three straight wins in majors, largely because of one person. (See next paragraph.)
Hello, Nadal. The overwhelming sentiment is that he will roll over Wawrinka come Sunday. The nine-time French Open champ needed just over two hours to take out Dominic Thiem 6-3,6-4,6-0. Nadal has yet to drop a set through six matches. Not only that, but not one player has taken more than four games in a single frame. That’s utter domination — even for the most prolific clay-court player ever.
Yes, this year’s French Open stats scream advantage, Rafa. But keep this in mind: Wawrinka has never lost a Grand Slam final in three tries. He revels in the moment.
\u00ab\u00a0The most important is when you enter the courts to focus on what you do, what you did in the practice court, \u00a0\u00bb Wawrinka said afterward. \u00ab\u00a0Try to just focus on the game, point by point. And that’s the only way you can win a Grand Slam final.\u00a0\u00bb
Rafa, take note. It’s not a done deal. Not yet, anyway.
The United States hasn’t churned out a dominant singles player in quite some time. By now, we know the last major winner was Andy Roddick, 13 years, nine months and one day ago (not that we’re counting) at the 2003 US Open. And the last Yank to win a major on clay? Andre Agassi in 1999.
It must be noted, though, that while American futility has become a thing in singles, the U. S. brigade has become quite the doubles stalwarts. Yes, the Bryan brothers are the most accomplished team of all time, with 16 Slam titles, but even with this dynamic duo out of Roland Garros, the USA is still being represented well. Even better news: No matter what happens in Saturday’s final, someone from the U. S. will walk away with a championship trophy.
On Friday, American Ryan Harrison, along with New Zealand’s Michael Venus, beat Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah to reach the French Open doubles final.
That means Harrison & Co. will play the United States’ Donald Young and his partner, Santiago Gonzalez, for the title. If you’re wondering, the last American French Open doubles winner not named Mike or Bob was Jonathan Stark, who, with Byron Black, won Roland Garros in 1994 — the same year Eugenie Bouchard was born, for what that’s worth.
. @ryanharrison92 and Kiwi Michael Venus continue their dream run into the Roland Garros SF over Dodig\/Granollers 6-2,3-6,6-3! #USTennis pic.twitter.com\/01VBMiI8ex
\u2014 USTA (@usta) June 6,2017
Back to the Americans singles players on clay. We mentioned it hasn’t exactly been a stellar run. Imagine if one had to play Rafa on clay.
Thank god I didn’t ever play Rafa on clay. Oh and oh and oh and oh and oh
\u2014 Mardy Fish (@MardyFish) June 9,2017
I did…… it sucked https: \/\/t.co\/ndt4IIQSC9
\u2014 andyroddick (@andyroddick) June 9,2017
Bah hahahaha https: \/\/t.co\/ZHHeiY0T3Z
\u2014 Mardy Fish (@MardyFish) June 9,2017
So there’s that.
All in all, it was a long day of tennis for only two matches. Not that we’re complaining, but sheesh, we are hungry.
Snack time!<\/p>\n