Djokovic loses to Wawrinka in US Open final

The world number one tennis player could not defend his final Grand Slam title of the year because he lost 7-6, 4-6, 5-7, 3-6 to his Swiss opponent.

Novak Djokovic entered the final match at Arthur Ashe Stadium with the ambition of winning his third Grand Slam title of the year after the Australian Open and Roland Garros. The Serbian tennis player has not been in good form in recent months, having been eliminated early at Wimbledon and the 2016 Olympics.

Djokovic regrets after losing the third set. Photo: Reuters.

Djokovic's path to the final was quite smooth. He benefited three times from opponents retiring due to injury. However, this advantage did not help the Serbian player overwhelm Stan Wawrinka, the player who was considered Djokovic's nemesis when he defeated him in the 2015 Roland Garros final.

In fact, Djokovic started the match very well with an early break-point in the second game of the first set. However, he let Wawrinka equalize the score later. Three consecutive unforced errors and a double fault in the ninth game broke Djokovic's serve.

In the first set tie-break, Djokovic took an early advantage with a brilliant backhand to lead 3-1. Three consecutive unforced errors put Wawrinka in a difficult position and he lost 1-7.

Wawrinka broke first in the second set, game four. Djokovic had himself to blame for losing that service game. He led 40-15 but hit a backhand too hard to let his opponent close the gap. The Serb was still smiling at the time, but the smile disappeared when he made a double fault. Two accurate backhands gave Wawrinka a break point.

An excellent performance brought a worthy victory to Wawrinka. Photo: Reuters.

Djokovic leveled the score at 4-4 thanks to a break-point in the seventh game. Tears of joy fell down the face of the number one seed at that time. However, those were hasty tears because in the 10th game, Wawrinka won a rally that reached 20 times the ball touched the racket and won the second set after 47 minutes.

In the third set, Wawrinka broke again in the second game. Although Djokovic responded with a break-point in game five, the Serbian player once again paid the price for not taking advantage of his chances in the deciding game. Leading 30-0 in the 12th game when serving, Djokovic let Wawrinka equalize and then conceded defeat with a missed backhand.

Wawrinka continued to break ahead in the fourth set, leading 2-0 and putting Djokovic in a difficult position. The Swiss player's performance in the final was similar to what he showed throughout the tournament. Wawrinka played inconsistently in the first three rounds but in the following matches, he had excellent performances.

After the fourth game, medical staff entered the court to attend to Djokovic. The world number one has had to seek medical help several times at this year's US Open. However, this time, it could not help him turn the game around. Down 0-30 in the ninth game when holding serve, Wawrinka's consecutive forehands helped him secure a match point.

Wawrinka with his first US Open trophy. Photo: Reuters.

This was a well-deserved victory for Wawrinka, who showed excellent form in the final. The Swiss player touched the first US Open Cup of his career at the age of 31. This was Stan Wawrinka's third Grand Slam title after the 2014 Australian Open and 2015 Roland Garros. He only lacked the Wimbledon championship to complete the collection of four Grand Slams.

As for Djokovic, this defeat caused him to miss out on two Grand Slam titles at the end of the year. After winning Roland Garros, few people expected the Serbian to lose his dominance in the second half of 2016. However, after being eliminated at Wimbledon, the Olympics, not participating in Cincinnati and now losing in the US Open final, Djokovic will have to work hard to regain his form before the ATP World Tour Finals begin.

According to VNE