Stan Warwinka Revives The Big Game



Last Sunday we witnessed an exhilarating end to a great French Open, one of the best for many years.  

The focus will be on Novak Djokovic and his missed opportunity to win the French Open and join the elite club of guys to win all four major championships in their career.  But for me, what made this the best tournament of the last decade was the champion being dethroned at a relatively early stage; with the remaining players thinking this is their best chance to win the title which eluded them for so long.  It is inconceivable that one player could win a tournament nine times at grand slam level, so when he loses early, it really is up for grabs.   The way Wawrinka was able to win the tournament was truly remarkable, and is rather fitting that he won the tournament in such a manner a day after Barcelona beat Juventus in the champions league final, a triumph for attacking risk taking sport over efficient if unspectacular play.

Although it may be a bit unfair to call Djokovic unspectacular.  He is efficient no doubt and the way he upped the pace and came to the net consistently against Murray in the fifth set in the semifinal was a great sight and I wish he could play like that more often.  However, some of the tennis Warwinka played in the final was nothing short of astonishing; and a tribute to his bravery to keep playing that way despite the nerves and title that was on the line.  In fact, the irony here is that the man who coaches Djokobvic, Boris Becker, often played the kind of tennis Wawrinka played in the final and surely inwardly must approve. 

Which is, approve of the fact that a player has won a major tournament playing the big game, the game the “experts” and pundits told us couldn’t win anymore at the highest level, particularly on the slower courts that permeate the tour today.  However, since January 2014, Stan Wawrinka has won two majors and Marin Cilic won the US Open, it has proved that it is possible to win major tournaments by taking the game to the opponent in all aspects of offence while possessing good enough defence.  Last year during the Australian Open final, Wawrinka hit some of his 2nd serves at 110mph on the line, Nadal was rattled long before his back gave out, he wasn’t used to dealing with that type of tennis on hardcourts since the mid 2000s, when there were a lot more risk takers on the tour who went for their shots against him particularly, the backhand down the line which gave him a lot of trouble on hardcourts.

It was a similar scenario against Djokivic although on the red clay it was even more spectacular, especially as Wawrinka dropped the first set.  Jim Courier observed that during the tournament, Djokovic stood on average one foot behind the baseline not to concede ground and rush his opponents with great counterpunching and some offense when required.  However, during the final, Wawrinka pushed Djokovic five feet behind the baseline, with deep heavy and lightning quick shots, some of those winners were the fastest you will see on a tennis court.  What did for Djokovic was the constant attack off both wings, forehand and backhand.  In recent times Fernando Gonzalez from Chile had the incredible forehand at elite level, but his one hand backhand was suspect and didn’t have much power on it; it is rare for a player to have equal power and accuracy off both wings.  Jo Wilfried Tsonga also has great power but struggles on the backhand return despite using two hands on the racquet.  This is one of the key reasons why Wawrinka has transitioned from a player outside of the top 10 into one of the very best players in the world.  His improvement in these facets of the game increased his self-belief, along with coach Magnus Norman's brilliant tutorship. 

What does this mean for aggressive / attacking tennis?  Last year Warwinka and Cilic won two out of the four majors and now Warwinka has won the French Open in emphatic style.  Three out of the last six majors have been won by a player playing aggressive tennis in the purer sense of the word.  It will be good to see that trend continue into Wimbledon but as of now the grass surface favours the counterpunchers who move better.  Dimitrov showed last year he has potential but his form has fallen off a cliff.  Still, it is very good news after years of finals between two counterpunchers.  Let’s not forget, the three sets between Murray and Djokovic in the 2013 Wimbledon final took three hours and thirty minutes. 

I also wonder how many players have not realised their potential.  Players like Tsonga, Berdych and Ferrer, have been in the top 10 for years whereas Warwinka’s ranking never got above 15 for many years, we knew he had the talent but didn’t know about his determination.  Magnus Norman worked on his fitness levels and changed his forehand stroke to make it more of a weapon to balance his backhand, much in the way Justine Henin did years ago in the women's game.  Goran Ivanisevic changed Cilic’s serving stance on the ad court to get more slice and swing on his down the middle serve, stretching opponents much more.  The players in the top 10 have not made any fundamental changes in their game to take it to the next level. 

This French Open win by Warwinka sets up the rest of the year nicely.  Let’s hope youngsters will be inspired to play the big game and take up the one hand backhand, and rediscover this art of volleying and putting slice on the volley as opposed to pushing the ball which so many players do today.  Wawrinka has created an opportunity here, let’s hope coaches and future players grab it.

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