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1/20/13 7:25 PM | Cheryl Murray
Defending Novak Djokovic had all he could handle at the hands of No. 15 seed Stanislas Wawrinka, who took him to five grueling sets.
Chalk up another epic Australian Open win for Novak Djokovic. Last year, the Serb played nearly six hours in the title match, which he won over rival Rafael Nadal.
This time, the test came a bit earlier in the tournament. Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka came out of nowhere to push Djokovic to the limit, with the Serb just pulling out the win at 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(5), 12-10.
Djokovic started the match in abysmal form. Wawrinka completely dominated his opponent throughout the first set, leaving the defending champ just one game to show for his efforts.
Wawrinka continued his dominance into the second set, taking a commanding 5-2 lead before Djokovic found his footing. The world No. 1 earned the break back and secured a second break of serve to take the set out from under Wawrinka.
Djokovic carried the winning momentum into the third set, where he started to display the sort of tennis that has won him the title three times.
But Wawrinka wasn't finished. The Swiss managed to hang with Djokovic long enough to force a tiebreaker. The no. 15 seed got off to a strong start with a pair of mini-breaks and held on long enough to level the match at two sets each.
The fifth set featured some of the best tennis of the tournament so far. Amidst visits from the trainer and fatigue the two men battled through 22 games before Djokovic finally converted his third match point.
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As Tignor says it seen to him as probably the best match in 2013. Really commies for Stan, he deserve the win though. Watching this game is different then watching nole vs other big 4 contenders. Stan really makes many beautiful shots that never been predicted by nole. Really good learning for both players for their future games.
Really delightful not missing this match even several times during the match was hiding behind the sofa (just like deuce said) :-)
bryanindo , 1/21/13 3:43 AM
Stan's backhand, together with Almagro's, are the two best SHBK in the tours now, according to Vijay Amitrage. Their backhands are simply beautiful and hardly break down when under constant attacks, very much their main weapons.
luckystar , 1/21/13 4:00 AM
I mean SHBH.
I hope Stan plays this way always and his chances against the top guys will come. He had already given the top guys all sorts of problems, beating Murray at USO one year and was troubling Fed for most part of the match at Shanghai one year.
luckystar , 1/21/13 4:03 AM
this can be costly for novak. may not have enough time to recover and crunch time is about to start. me thinks nole underestimated wawa and waited for him to choke.
rfzr , 1/21/13 5:40 AM
^^ I think Nole was a bit off on his range but he seemed to display the kind of tightness associated with the possibility of losing to an opponent who he normally owns a great record against. There was none of the outrageous hitting he had employed in previous matches with his back to the wall - instead he was waiting for Stan to miss - perhaps initially by underestimating his opponent but afterwards through some kind of stubborn delusion that Stan was eventually going to crack. He should thank his stars that Stan wasn't as fit as some of the other top tier guys.
A lot will hinge on the Berdych match if he goes through it, Ferrer will be expected to give him a physical fight for a while anyway.
samprallica , 1/21/13 7:07 AM
WAwrinka has the best single handed backhand
tennis2011 , 1/21/13 5:00 PM
The best SHBH:
1. Wawa
2. Gasquet
3. Almagro
Monalysa , 1/21/13 5:32 PM
why does it take so long to get the predictions for today's matches? Ricky is always very prompt.
rfzr , 1/21/13 9:51 PM
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Probably this was the best match on Australian Open 2013, since I can't imagine that any better performance might follow next week. Both players deserve glory. Fans have to keep in shape with lots of cardio exercises to escape heart attacks while watching such epics.
vjakov , 1/20/13 8:42 PM