Stan is quite simply the man in Melbourne.
No, he is not a seven-time Australian Open champion like Novak Djokovic. And yes, he has also captured Grand Slam titles at the French Open and U.S. Open. But there’s just something special about Melbourne Park for Stan Wawrinka.
Wawrinka, the 2014 winner and two-time semifinalist thereafter, was up to his usual tricks Down Under while scoring a 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 upset of world No. 4 Daniil Medvedev on Monday. The 34-year-old booked a spot in the Aussie Open quarterfinals for the fifth time in his career after three hours and 24 minutes.
As for Medvedev, he remains without a five-set victory in his career (now 0-6 lifetime). But his previous five-set loss–to Rafael Nadal in the 2019 U.S. Open final–was no fault of his own, and neither was this one. The Russian finished with nine more winners than unforced errors (44 to 35) and fired 19 aces compared to only two double-faults. He simply could not withstand a Margaret Court Arena masterpiece by Wawrinka.
The 15th-ranked Swiss crushed 71 winners and struck 18 aces to just one double-fault. He capitalized on four of 11 break-point chances and won 31 of 46 net points.
“I think last time I play so well was before the surgery,” said Wawrinka, who went under the knife in 2017 for a knee problem. “For sure, I feel since the offseason my level is really high. Physically I’m moving better than last year; so I’m improving…. I have been practicing really hard. I’ve been feeling great on the court, on the practice court…putting a lot of work physically and tennis-wise. The week before here, I was really feeling at the top level.”
“I would be happy if it was next tournament he played like this,” Medvedev joked. “He was playing really well. I think I did a good job to make it two sets to one. I had some opportunities in the fourth set. Didn’t have break points, but was really close in many games.
“But Stan played [well]; served amazing. I think was a tight battle where first and fifth set he was really better than me. Second and third, I was better. Fourth was kind of the deciding set, let’s say, where he was really good [in] the tiebreak…. After [this] loss I’m not disappointed too much. Here I’m like, ‘I did my best.’ Of course, I could do some shots better. But he played a great match.”
Wawrinka’s reward is a trip to the quarterfinals in the top half of the draw along with Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, and Alexander Zverev. Nadal battled past Nick Kyrgios by the exact same 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 scoreline that resulted from their 2019 Wimbledon second-round clash. Thiem and Zverev cruised past Gael Monfils and Andrey Rublev, respectively, in straight sets.
Wawrinka will go up against Zverev in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, while familiar foes Nadal and Thiem are set to square off for the 14th time.
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good QF lineup