Stanislas Wawrinka won the final of the Australian Open 2014 against Rafael Nadal to claim his first Grand Slam title. In the final, which lasted a bit more than 2 hours, Wawrinka played some good tennis to beat the world number 1 and win the season’s first Grand Slam title with the scoreline reading 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in favour of the Swiss.
But the scoreline could have been much different. Had Rafael Nadal stayed fit till the end the Swiss would not finished the match with so much ease. Taking nothing away from the world number 8 it can be said that Nadal’s injury mid-way though the second set proved to be the turning point of the match. Till then the match was well balanced though Wawrinka had taken the first set and was one break up in the second as well. Then came the moment of the match. Nadal stood still after returning one shot from Wawrinka, visibly in pain. He had to call his physio immediately and soon followed a medical time-out for 3 minutes. In the mean time, Wawrinka had some heated exchanges with the chair umpire as the chair umpire could not tell the reason of the medical time-out. As Wawrinka continued his argument with the officials, Nadal came back. But he could never gather the fitness that would have helped him to claw back into the match. Wawrinka won the second set 6-2 breaking Nadal’s service for one more time as Nadal lost his movement completely.
In third set there was an extra-ordinary turnaround put up by Nadal. His never-say-die 
mentality earned him the third set as he was playing just on the basis of his technique. With an injured back, Nadal broke Wawrinka’s serve and went on to win the set 6-3. But it just delayed the inevitable. Strangely Wawrinka also lost his momentum that gave him the first two sets.
In the fourth and the final set, Wawrinka rose to the occasion and got an early break. But Nadal got that break back immediately in the very next game only to be broken again in the next one. Then Wawrinka served out the final game of the tournament to see his name being engraved on the coveted trophy.
The 2014 Australian Open final will be remembered by the tennis fans not only for the rise of a new champion but also for the spirited display of a true champion in the court after being seriously injured mid-way through the match. Nadal did not win the trophy but he won a number hearts. That is nothing less than winning a trophy.
Tags: Australian Open Australian Open 2014 Rafael Nadal Stanislas Wawrinka Wawrinka wins Australian Open
