His Own Man

The French Open final had reached a Novak Djokovic moment. He was down two sets to one to Stan Wawrinka, but was up 3-1 in the fourth set. As he had done so many times before this year, Djokovic had started well, suffered a mid-match lull, and then, just when he seemed to be drifting into danger, had turned the tables back around on his opponent.

Now Djokovic faced a break point, but as the rally progressed, it seemed sure to go his way. The two players traded heavy ground strokes and moved each other around long enough for a buzz to start in Court Philippe Chatrier—who was finally going to miss? On virtually any other day before this one in 2015, the answer would have been Wawrinka. He has always been the more erratic player, while Djokovic has always thrived on attrition, on making one more ball, on wearing his opponent down physically and demoralizing him mentally.

But a funny thing happened at the end of this point. This time it was Wawrinka who made the sliding, last-second gets from behind the baseline; and this time it was Djokovic, with a frustrated and slightly weary swipe at the ball, who put a forehand into the net and was broken. Instead of bouncing back from his lull to run away with the match, as he did against Wawrinka in a 6-0 fifth set at the Australian Open, and as he had the previous day in a 6-1 fifth set over Andy Murray, Djokovic lost six of the last seven games, and his third French Open final, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

In my preview of this match, I wrote that Wawrinka would have to disrupt Djokovic’s ground-stroke groove and break down his baseline fortress by essentially going for broke and redlining his game for three sets. And yes, Wawrinka played what he called the best match of his career. But it turned out that he didn’t need to play hit-and-hope tennis; it turned out that he was also just as solid and steady as the world No. 1 from the back of the court. He matched Djokovic’s consistency—Stan had 45 unforced errors to Nole’s 41—while hitting with much more firepower. Wawrinka hit 60 winners to Djokovic’s 30, and commanded the baseline without having to play with an uncomfortable amount of risk.

“He completely deserves to win,” Djokovic said afterward, in an irrefutable bit of post-match analysis. “He played much better tennis, was more courageous. I tried my best, but it wasn’t the day.”

Djokovic, as he implied, was the tighter player. How could he not be? He was the favorite, the world No. 1 by a country mile, the one riding a 27-match win streak, and the one attempting to complete, for the fourth time, a career Grand Slam. He was also trying, again, to win this one for his late coach Jelena Gencic. And he had even beaten the man who knocked him out at Roland Garros on six other occasions, Rafael Nadal.

But if playing Rafa in the quarterfinals helped him beat the Spaniard, it didn’t help him in the final. From the start against Wawrinka, Djokovic looked constrained, more hopeful than aggressive. He didn’t fire himself up, rev the crowd, or try to take the match to his opponent until deep into the fourth set. He can beat 99 percent of opponents with his normal, solid level of play; today he needed something extra. After having to get through two sets against Murray on Saturday, he couldn't find it.

It wasn’t just the occasion that constrained Djokovic; his opponent had a big hand in keeping him on his heels. Wawrinka, with his serve, forehand, and even his one-handed backhand, is the more naturally powerful player, the one who can bust open a rally from anywhere. He controlled with his forehand, and seemed to save his signature shot, his down-the-line backhand, for the moments when it would have the most effect. Stan hit 11 winners from that side, but it felt like many more because all of them were memorable.

This time it was Djokovic, usually so comfortable patrolling the baseline, who was forced to look elsewhere for answers. He had to work harder than Wawrinka to gain the advantage in rallies, and he often misfired when he tried to go toe-to-toe with him. Early in the fourth set, Djokovic went more regularly to the drop shot; it had worked well for him this spring, but now it seemed to be his only option if he wanted to end points on his own terms. Then, at the end of the fourth set, Djokovic rushed the net. It worked for a time, but it backfired at 4-4, when he tried to serve-and-volley on a second serve at deuce. Wawrinka won the point with a backhand pass, and broke with another backhand pass on the next point.

“In some important moments,” Djokovic said, “he came up with the big shots and I didn’t.”

It was Wawrinka, in the end, who played the match that Djokovic typically plays. He was the one who dug himself out of trouble and sprinted down the homestretch. He was helped by two built-in psychological advantages. Not only did Stan have nothing to lose as the match began, there was also no question about what his tactics should be.

“I played my best tennis today,” Wawrinka said. “Was amazing match, amazing level. When you play Novak, you have to go with your shots.”

“I tried to make him move, play really hard, and make him uncomfortable,” he added. “I start to play more heavy [after the first set], start to play long rallies, which helped me.”

“Heavy” had been the word of the tournament for Stan, and it was again today. It’s a heaviness that no top player can match, and if Wawrinka’s shots are clicking, no opponent can counter.

Not even the best opponent. Djokovic was left to hold up the runner-up plate at Roland Garros for the third time, and smile gamely through another round of warm, consoling applause. He was, as always, exemplary in defeat; John McEnroe looked frankly stunned that Djokovic took the time to speak with him on NBC afterward. But this loss, when everything was set up perfectly for a redemptive win after a decade of defeats, must hurt. Perhaps Djokovic can take heart from the examples of Andre Agassi and Roger Federer. After multiple losses in the French final, each must have wondered if he was destined never to hoist the Coupes des Mousquetaires; but each went on to do it in his late 20s. Maybe the draw gods will smile on Novak here someday.

As for Wawrinka, he has played spoiler's role to the hilt again. Last year he kept Nadal from completing his second career Slam; this time he kept Djokovic from completing career Slam No. 1. It took Wawrinka a long time to begin to believe that he could beat those players, and today he credited his coach of the last three years, Magnus Norman, for helping convince him that he had the game to make it happen. It’s hard to predict where Wawrinka goes from here; unlike the Big 4, he has never played his best from week to week. But over the last two years he has made himself into a consistent threat at the majors. He beat the top two players in the world in Paris, and I think the match he played today, as excellent as it was, is well within his powers to repeat.

Stan didn't just stand in the way of history today; he also made some of his own. He won his second major, and became one of a handful of men in the Open era to win one after turning 30. No longer can he be called a fluke champion or Federer’s little Swiss brother. He's Stan the Man again—his own man.