Ahead of Sunday’s US Open men’s final, Ahmed Rizvi looks at the history between finalists Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka ahead of the showdown.
Play my best tennis
“He’s the No 1 player, amazing fighter, amazing player, but I have enough confidence in myself that when I play my best level I can beat him,” Wawrinka, who has a 4-19 head-to-head against Djokovic after he had beaten Kei Nishikori in four sets in Friday’s semi-final, said. “The secret is simple: I have to play my best tennis, my best game.”
Long affairs
This will be their seventh duel at a grand slam and barring the first, at the 2012 US Open when an injured Wawrinka retired in the third, their duels have been long affairs. Four of the other five matches have gone to the fifth set, and that includes a draining five hour, two minute battle in the fourth round of the 2013 Australian Open that Djokovic won.
Major crowns
Djokovic leads their grand slam head-to-head 4-2, but Wawrinka has defeated the Serb for both his major crowns. The Swiss beat him 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7 in the quarter-final of the 2014 Australian Open, on his way to the title. Then, last year at Roland Garros, he staged a stunning fightback to beat Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the final.
Believes in himself
“Both of these grand slam trophies that he has, he won against me on the way,” said Djokovic, the 12-time major winner, who beat Gael Monfils, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in his semi-final. “So I know right now, having two grand slam titles, an Olympic medal and a Davis Cup under his belt, he believes in himself more. He doesn’t get too stressed by the bigger occasion.”
Strong records in finals
Wawrinka has a 100 per cent record in grand slam finals. In fact, he has won his last 10 finals. Djokovic, making his seventh appearance in the US Open final, does not have a bad record himself, having won six of the past seven major finals he has reached, the one to get away the 2015 French Open to Wawrinka.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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