Australian Open: Stanislas Wawrinka ousts defending champion Novak Djokovic in quarters
Stanislas Wawrinka won a five-set marathon against Novak Djokovic that lasted four hours. The eight-seed Swiss will play Tomas Berdych in the semis.
Swiss tennis star Stanislas Wawrinka has pulled off one of the biggest upsets of this year's Australian Open by beating defending champion Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7 in an epic quarter-final match played at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Tuesday. The match lasted four hours. "He's an amazing champion, never gives up and I'm really, really, really, really happy," said Wawrinka after victory. The Swiss will now play Tomas Berdych in the semifinals. (Read: Roger Federer and Andy Murray face ultimate test in quarters)
Second seed Djokovic broke Wawrinka's serve twice in the first set to win 6-2 to make a statement early in the match but the eighth-seeded Swiss came back strongly in the second set, winning it 6-4. Set No. 3 had the Swiss giving Djokovic a taste of his own medicine, as he repeated Serb's double-break statistic from the first set by breaking the defending champion twice himself. Wawrinka won the third set 6-2. "I always fight, I always try and tonight I won so I'm really happy," said Wawrinka, adding, "Last year was really close and I was playing my best game but when Novak plays his best he's better than me, for sure." (Read: Tomas Berdych beats David Ferrer to enter first AUS Open semis)
This is the 28th time Novak Djokovic is involved in a 5-set match. He has won 20 out of 27 five-set matches with a win percentage of 74 percent. Djokovic congratulated Wawrinka saying: "This is sport, he showed his mental strength and he deserved to win. He knows now how to play on the big stage."
The Swiss player stacked up a total of 17 aces in the match, 10 more than Djokovic's, but the Serbian's unrelenting defense and calmness on court ensured that his victory did not come easy. Wawrinka's victory ended Djokovic's 28-match winning streak. "Of course I'm disappointed but tomorrow is a new day and I have to accept that you can't win every match," said Djokovic.
The last three Grand Slam matches played between Djokovic and Wawrinka have now all been decided through five-setters, with the Serbian fourth-round victory in last year's Australian Open voted one of the best matches of the year, where he won 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 12-10.