Djokovic advances to finals with 5-set win over Wawrinka
MELBOURNE, Australia – It was another five-setter between Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka at the Australian Open, but this one was far from a classic.
The world No. 1 Djokovic survived a third consecutive five-set match here against Wawrinka at this tournament, earning the right to play Andy Murray in Sunday night's final.
How did this bizarre encounter unfold? We explain below.
Scoreline: (1) Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. (4) Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0
You can't tell from the score of this match, but it was a strange one – start to finish. Neither player was near their best and they both struggled with holding on to momentum in an exchange that lacked overall energy and flow.
Wawrinka, famously fragile mentally, couldn't conjure up stronger tennis on a night that the world No. 1 was certainly beatable.
What it means: Djokovic advances to his fifth Australian Open final (he's 4-0 there in his career), setting up a re-match of the 2013 title bout against Murray, the third time they've met in the Melbourne final. While it appeared that Murray sprinted over the finish line Thursday night against Tomas Berdych (winning going away in four sets), Djokovic seemed to crawl over it, the 27-year-old Serbian playing without his usual gusto and baseline prowess. In the 10-game fourth set (which he lost), Djokovic hit zero winners. Zero.
How it happened: The first-set tiebreak may have been the most important moment of this match, when Djokovic had come back from a break down and then ran away in the breaker, 7-1. Wawrinka won the second 6-3 before Djokovic took a commanding 3-0 lead in the third, closing it out 6-4 when Wawrinka led 40-15 at 4-5 serving before losing four straight points.
Like set three, Djokovic let a lead slip in the fourth, as well, first a break at 2-0 and then a love-40 lead on Wawrinka's serve at 1-2. The Swiss man capitalized this time, breaking the world No. 1 at 3-3 thanks to a Djokovic forehand into the net. Wawrinka clinched the set with a forehand winner.
The fifth, however, was far from the quality (or drama) of the classics that they put on in 2013 and 2014 here, both of those extended epics. Wawrinka's legs seem to escape him, as did his serve, Djokovic breaking for 2-0 and then securing an insurmountable lead at 4-0. The three-hour, thirty-minute match ended with a Wawrinka error wide.
Key stat: Wawrinka helped Djokovic far too much on this night, hitting 69 unforced errors, just three points shy of three entire sets. Djokovic won 70 percent of points on his first serve, far the better of these two on this struggle of a night.
What he said: "I think I played well, two sets to one and a break and I played a couple of loose games," Djokovic said on court in an interview. "I made my life very complicated on court. The opening game of the fifth set was close, so it was crucial. I managed to stay consistent and tough in the right moments. I'm happy to go through."
