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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Wilander says Stan is better placed to beat Nole at RG than even Rafa. When you hear c**p like that you can understand why none of them should be taken seriously.
Wilander has always talked a load of garbage. And had his knife into Rafa.
yeah…I remember during the Rafa/Fed 2012 AO semi-final he started off really putting the boot into Rafa….saying straight out that how Rafa played ‘isn’t good enough anymore..’ he was eating very very humble pie by the end of the match and had started putting the boot quite openly into Fed long before the match ended.
During the 2010 RG final, M.Wilander rooted for Sod. Before the match, he predicted Sod to win.
yes, he’s a veritable oracle!!
rather an anti-oracle, what he prophesies does not come to pass!
the problem with Mats is that he’s spent so long worshiping at the shrine of Federer that the marshy vapours arising from it have addled his brain….
If that ball which Nole challenged hadn’t been called out by the umpire when in fact it was in (according to hawkeye) Nole would have been broken there.
It’s going to be his day….
Also this court is too slow for Stan to hit through with his power…on a faster court the scoreline would look different…
Yes, Stan was robbed.
Hawkeye was wrong.
#NotMe
pact with the Double
Stan got unlucky with that call in the last game of the set. Hawkeye showed his forehand clipped the line on that 30-15 point ..it would have been 5-5 because he reeled off the next three points.
Anyway, the strategy is clear.djokovic has decided not to be the aggressor on most occasions and let stan hit hard while djokovic tries to counter punch with three quarter returns with a lot of variation in pace and bounce.He is extracting errors by defending like a wall and absorbing the pace. The strategy is clever and he keeps the pressure on stan by stepping up the court on some occasions.
Stan must realize this is not a hard court or a grass court. Hitting through djokovic with raw power is not the best strategy. He should definitely use his power but should mix things up a little. Novak is so deep in the baseline so try creating some angles on the court or may be go for some drop shots!
Stan can win this set i think..the match has been close
I don’t think Stan has the drop shot in his arsenal.
2nd break point! He should break here
oh Stan!! he should have broken there! he finds the gaps then goes long!
Wow…two backhands missed on break points.
There you go again, stan over-attacking djokovic’s forehand ! On many important points, he has had forehands set up for him while standing in his backhand corner, and he goes inside-in ! I think he should use his inside out forehand more often because that shot also has angle! Anyway, crucial to just keep mixing things up.
He’s been using the inside in because it’s less predictable.
of all the Djoker mannerisms (and there are many of them) The two I find the most irritating are the affronted face pulls and sardonic smirks when he loses points
And the fake losing his ground when his opponent hits a winner. In fact, he has no redeeming features in my eyes, period.
Stan should have broken this set..has had way too many chances he’s blown…
Wawrinka has just not played well enough on break points.I guess he will learn and play more aggressively IF he gets another break shot. I pick stan to win this set
Not. Again. Stan. On. break. points.
Choking on break points! Three backhands sent long on brk pnts!
Stan is getting really frustrated now. I think Djoker is going to pinch this set although Stan should have won it.
Cant decide if Stan is upping his level, or Djoker’s is dropping.
Looking at the stats it’s a bit of both.
But may be more of the latter.
Yes!! Finally! Stan would have exploded if he didn’t win that one…….!
Great backhand DTL followed by forehand DTL mid game (or was it the other way round?!) more of that please….
Djoker is definitely NOT the flavour of the month with the Frenchies!
Was obvious to me when they favoured Rafa in last year’s final.
Official Djoker racket smash! was he warned? I have no commentary because my tv is now so allergic to it that ONLY on this channel there is no sound! extraordinary….
amy ( at 2:53 pm),
Yes, Djoko was warned when he smashed his racquet after losing the 2nd set.
I just got on here and just started watching! Was the crowd booing because Novak smashed his racket when Stan hit a winner to get the second set?
#Stanimal
I was wondering where stan’s backhand DTL had vanished and it appeared right when he needed it! Wow what a brilliant game by stan. He was too damn good! Much better player in set 2.
So i was right, stan wins set 2. He better make a solid start in set 3 and not let novak get an early break