Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka will battle for the Roland Garros title on Sunday. Djokovic is going for the career Grand Slam, while Wawrinka aims for his second major trophy.
Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka will be squaring off for the 21st time in their careers when they collide in the French Open final on Sunday afternoon.
Djokovic is dominating the head-to-head series 17-3, but that is not to say the matchup has been without drama. In fact, their last four Grand Slam meetings (and all of their completed slam showdowns that did not end in retirement) have resulted in five-setters. Djokovic won the most epic of all 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(5), 12-10 in the 2013 Australian Open semifinals and he prevailed 2-6, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 later that season in the U.S. Open semis. Wawrinka got some revenge with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7 upset at the 2014 Aussie Open before Djokovic returned the favor 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 earlier this year Down Under.
The world No. 1 is 5-1 lifetime against Wawrinka on clay and the only blemish came via first-set retirement at the 2006 Umag event. They have faced each other eight times since their last clash on the slow stuff, which came three years ago in Madrid (Djokovic got the job done 7-6(5), 6-4).
Although Wawrinka is a major champion who has always accounted himself well on red dirt, his appearance in the Roland Garros title match could not have been expected. The ninth-ranked Swiss had lost seven of his previous 15 matches leading up to this fortnight. Suddenly in swashbuckling form, Wawrinka has advanced with wins over Marsel Ilhan, Dusan Lajovic, Steve Johnson, Gilles Simon, Roger Federer, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga–almost all of them in convincing fashion.
Whereas Wawrinka (and Tsonga, among others) benefited from a weak bottom half of the bracket, Djokovic put in the hard yards during a daunting trek through the top half. After disposing of Jarkko Nieminen, Gilles Muller, Thanasi Kokkinakis, and Richard Gasquet, the top-ranked Serb made quick 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 work of nine-time champion Rafael Nadal. Andy Murray then pushed Djokovic to five sets in a semifinal spread out over two days, but the favorite survived 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 6-1. He is now 41-2 for the season and has won 28 matches in a row.
As strong as Wawrinka is on clay, the underdog will struggle to hit through Djokovic’s borderline impenetrable defense on a relatively slow court. Djokovic did not have to spend too much energy in his continuation against Murray on Saturday–especially not physically–and the brief scare may actually serve as a wake-up call.
With Djokovic one step away from the career Grand Slam, there will be no stopping him now.
Pick: Djokovic in 4
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https://twitter.com/SwissMinipeople/status/607513578636222464/photo/1
VR please remain calm and do not feed the troll
vamosrafa says:
June 10, 2015 at 11:30 am
yeah…it is…blind worshiping is a menace though 😉
I am no less loyal than any rafa fan I have ever come across 🙂
_________________________________
I’m glad you put the smile icon because nothing could be further from the truth.
On another subject. Novak doesn’t like Rafa either. Think of his reaction when Rafa accidently hit him with the ball in Montreal.
https://uk.search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=C211GB384D20150217&p=nadal+hits+Djokovic+with+ball+in+montreal
VR be calm and don’t feed the troll.
I think Novak respects Rafa enough. That particular match, they sorted things out at the net intermediately post the match. Had there been bad blood, it would have lingered on.
Novak reacted under pressure there as he thought he would eat Rafa for dinner that day and Rafa was just not giving in :-). I loved that match..excellent quality.
Agree with sanju. I was at that match and all was water under the bridge but trolls are masters of taking their cherry picked facts out of context to fit their own illusions of reality
@nadline, no, sorry. you don’t get to win the loyalty contest . But you are a very strong contender for being the best hater of rafa’s rivals (who are shown massive respect by rafa)
some of nadline’s gems when she is talking about tennis:
– dimitrov has the best SHBH on the tour
– there is nothing special about djokovic’s ROS
– djokovic relies on opponents’ mistakes, he has no weapons of his own
*clap clap clap* 😉
Nadline10 is as loyal as sienna
June 10, 2015 at 6:51 pm,
If somebody’s opinion differs from vamosrafa’s opinion, then this somebody gets labeled a “hater” by vamosrafa! Nothing new or something new?
Novak is a saint.
I agree with Sanju and Hawkeye. Novak was upset with Rafa initially, no question about it. But they did straighten in all out after the match and said so.
Rafa is a good and decent person. He understood why Novak was unhappy about it. Nobody likes getting hit in the face with a ball in the heat of competition. But Novak calmed down and realized it was not intentional..
They are two professional tennis players. They are not children!
Oh yes for sure! 🙂
I am very eager to see that if Rafa posts a big turnaround..what tune will these so called experts sing? I mean it must be stiffling to have an egg laid on your face and swallow your own rubbish.
I hope we will see such a turnaround again. I am not entirely convinced we will but hope to be proven wrong. Obviously Rafa has done more than enough already in his career. There were times I thought his career was almost over, sincerely, to my regret. and the first one of those was years ago. So I say, among other things, thank you to the success of those injections (and extended time off) that have already prolonged Rafa’s career by years, beyond any normal expectations.
As for the egg… we have witnessed this scenario a number of times over the years. I don’t recall any one expert addressing the egg on her or his face in public, i.e. having the decency to write about it an open, truthful way, or simply to write about it.
For example, imagine Bodo writing in one of those scenarios something like this:
Start of quote
Prior to the last tournament ( or: Rafa comeback after injury ) I wrote in such and such articles with a bias and lack of grounding in reality the following views: such and such.
Now I must acknowledge that my bias stemmed from such and such but was ultimately not-called for, rather pronounced, and definitely to the standards my profession is (supposed to be) held to.
I am human.
Perhaps my readers will bear in mind that such and such (e.g. I have been overly blinded by ten years of hero worship of one mere mortal from a certain canton in Switzerland, and furthermore there are material advantages to certain industries for most of us experts and writers to uphold said myth, whether or not we personally actually believe it.)
It will be difficult henceforth to try and stay clear of such extremes of bias but I will
embrace that difficulty as a writer aspiring once again at professionalism. It will at the same time be easier too: not to have to bend facts, invent, and cherry pick to such an extent.
To be this transparent and vulnerable is not easy, trust me. But I was told it is also one of the most courageous things to do. And now that I have written this and decided to publish it, I do feel better. Lighter. Truer. More honorable. And if I am allowed to make this qualification myself about myself: a mensch.
Yours Truly,
Peter Bodo
End of quote
Wait a minute! I was wrong in my comment @ 5:11 pm!
It’s Rafa who is the saint! Absolutely! Forget about Novak! 🙂
loro says:
June 10, 2015 at 5:21 pm
“As for the egg…”
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http://a.abcnews.com/images/Health/ht_Novak_Djokovic_nt_110830_wmain.jpg
I thought you were talking about Novak’s secret weapon. 🙂
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/novak-djokovic-pressurized-cvac-space-egg-helped-climb/story?id=14406674
it’s beautiful, wonderful how we are all staying on subject
when it suits
green-eyed
m
It’s the return of the egg! 🙂
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