2019 Matches of the Year, No. 2: Wawrinka vs. Tsitsipas at the French Open

At five hours and eight minutes, Stan Wawrinka vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas in the French Open fourth was the longest match of the tournament. It was the best from a quality standpoint, too.

As the 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 scoreline in Wawrinka’s favor indicates, it obviously could have gone either way. And it probably would have gone to Tsitsipas’ way if not for Wawrinka’s ability to save break points. The 34-year-old Swiss fought off 22 of 27 break points, including eighth of eight during a thrilling fifth set. He finally clinched victory with a break of his own at 7-6, converting his second match point with backhand slice pass on the outside of the sideline.

Tsitsipas finished with 13 more winners than unforced errors (61 to 48), no small accomplishment for a five-hour clay-court match. Wawrinka struck 62 winners to 55 errors. And other than a tie, the total points won could not have been closer: Tsitsipas 195, Wawrinka 194.

“I feel exhausted,” the 20-year-old Greek admitted. “I don’t know; never experienced something like this in my life. I feel very disappointed at the end. (It’s been a) long time that…long time since I cried after a match. So emotionally, (it) wasn’t easy to handle.”

“Today we saw only one centimeter can change the winner,” Wawrinka noted. “I think he would have deserved as much as me to win the match today. It’s for sure a tough loss for him, but it was something that was big battle.

“I think I never experience that kind of atmosphere here in Paris on (Court Suzanne) Lenglen. Always had a lot of support, but I think today was really special, and the match was amazing–five hours…five sets. The crowd stayed all the match… I enjoyed (it) a lot. That’s the reason why I still play tennis, and that’s the reason why I’m practicing every day to try to win big matches like that.”

Although a title was not a stake (it was round four of a tournament in which everyone other than Rafael Nadal was playing for second place), it was–without question–one of the biggest and best matches of the year.

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