It was leg day for Stan Wawrinka, who fell in five but again defined success at Roland Garros

Nearly two-and-a-half hours into what proved to be a second straight five-setter at Roland Garros this year, 38-year-old Stan Wawrinka exerted the asset that will propel him into the International Tennis Hall of Fame: His legs. Versus Thanasi Kokkinakis, an Australian eleven years his junior, Wawrinka trailed two sets to one. Following the loss of the third set, he exited the court. As Wawrinka returned to Court Simonne-Mathieu, he flexed his knees and jumped up and down Upon holding serve at love to start the fourth set, Wawrinka sprinted to change sides.

When it comes to tennis technique, the legs are the overlooked workhorse. Lots of attention is paid to the arms, hands and wrists, those delicate fine motor muscles that appear to impart such icing on the tennis cake as touch and spin. Meanwhile, the legs toil, largely unsung—just as Wawrinka had throughout much of his career. Legend by now is the tale of how Wawrinka occupied and eventually emerged from the shadow of his compatriot, Roger Federer, to earn three Grand Slam titles, all won past the age of 28. Those results owe a great deal of credit to Wawrinka’s legs, a pair of strong, flexible and powerful pistons that have been the driving force for his magnificent one-handed backhand; legs arguably even more important to that shot’s success than the two-handers that dominate contemporary tennis.

Once again in Paris, Wawrinka’s legs took him to the distance. Over the course of an 80-minute fourth set, Wawrinka labored hard to even the match. Nine times in that set he held a break point. Nine times he was unsuccessful. This was yet another example of the now-familiar words from Samuel Beckett that Wawrinka had tattooed on his left forearm years ago: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Serving at 4-4 in the fourth, Wawrinka fought back from love-30 and break point down to remain in the lead. At 6-6, he played an airtight tiebreaker, swiftly winning the first five points. At 6-4, Wawrinka snapped off his trademark shot, an untouchable up-the-line backhand, to send it into a fifth. Said Wawrinka, “people know I'm 38 years old and it's the end of my career. I think they are trying to enjoy to the fullest, and they're happy to see me. So we enjoy together.”

For the 16th time at Roland Garros, Wawrinka was in a fifth set. He’d won eleven. But not this one. Though early on, Wawrinka had led 6-3, 4-2, in the end, Kokkinakis emerged the victor, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3. Even in the last set, his legs by now much weaker, Wawrinka fought back. With Kokkinakis serving at 4-0, Wawrinka broke and held. Yesterday, another veteran, 36-year-old Gael Monfils, had rallied from a similar deficit. Could Wawrinka?

There came yet one more gasp. At 5-3, Kokkinakis reached 40-love. Wawrinka evened the game, then fought off another match point with a scorching crosscourt backhand pass that elicited a volley error. But at deuce, Kokkinakis fought well to win a 17-shot rally and earned the victory with a service winner.

“Stan is a legend,” said Kokkinakis. “Still is, obviously, but he was a legend out on court today. He was very nice, very respectful. Yeah, hats off to him. The crowd was going nuts for him, but it's a fun atmosphere. I love playing against that, so it was awesome.”

“The end of the match was incredible in terms of atmosphere. It was like a Davis Cup atmosphere,” said Wawrinka. “This gives a lot of emotions, of course. So it helps accepting the loss. It helps moving on and overcoming these losses.”

Wawrinka’s first rounder had lasted 4 hours and 35 minutes. This one took three minutes longer. In two matches, Wawrinka had logged in 9 hours and 13 minutes.

When today’s match was over, as cheers cascaded throughout Court Simmone-Mathieu, Wawrinka tossed towels from his bag to the stands, signed autographs, waved to the crowd, and exited the major where he’d won the juniors 20 years ago and upset Novak Djokovic in the 2015 final. What places this man’s legs have taken him, through 888 ATP Tour matches—including 56 five-setters, the most of any active player.

He was a legend out on court today. He was very nice, very respectful. Yeah, hats off to him. The crowd was going nuts for him, but it's a fun atmosphere. Thanasi Kokkinakis

An intriguing example of Wawrinka’s passion and devotion came in 2013. By mid-April of that year, he’d already competed on six of the world’s seven continents. The only one he’d not played on was Antarctica.

Engage the fantasy mind and it’s easy to imagine Wawrinka, his sturdy legs carrying him to victory on the South Pole. Of course, yet another of his strengths would also melt away any obstacles on the frozen tundra: a tremendous heart—an asset perhaps even stronger than those powerful legs. Said Wawrinka, “it's to live these emotions that I continue playing. So I can only be happy with what happened on the court despite being disappointed by the loss and by why I lost.”

Beckett, a French-based tennis aficionado who wrote stories that often addressed the passage of time, would likely savor the way Wawrinka continues to weave new and compelling tales at Roland Garros.

“But of course if I take the big picture,” said Wawrinka, “there is a lot of pride of fighting until the end and the great pleasure of playing with such an atmosphere, with the crowd, living so many emotions, despite the four hours and 30 fight, and the importance of the match and being able to live this, it's always a pure pleasure.”