Stan Wawrinka wins French Open title

When it comes to grand slam finals, Stan Wawrinka is used to playing spoiler.

After upsetting Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open last year, he engineered another major surprise Sunday by topping world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 46 64 63 64 to claim a second grand slam title.

Wawrinka isn’t a member of the “Big Four,” but his achievement at Roland Garros means the Swiss now has the same number of grand slam trophies as Andy Murray.

While the Scot owns a 2-6 record in major finals, Wawrinka is a perfect 2-0.

Djokovic sunk to 8-8 and out went his 28-match winning streak.

He must be wondering if he’ll ever win the grand slam he so desperately craves. In the last two years, Djokovic hasn’t made it a secret that triumphing on the red clay in Paris was his main objective.

“I’m sure you’ll win Roland Garros,” Wawrinka told Djokovic as he addressed the crowd.

But with each passing year and no title, he moves closer to the likes of Pete Sampras and Boris Becker — one of his coaches — in never winning the French Open while bagging the three other majors.

This year could especially be a blow to Djokovic, since he toppled nine-time champion Nadal for the first time in seven tries at the French Open and followed it up by ending Murray’s 15-match winning streak on clay. The hard work was seemingly done.

Djokovic needed two days to complete his semifinal against Murray because of an impending storm that caused poor light, and not having a day off between matches had to have contributed to his loss Sunday.

Wawrinka, who did have the customary day off, benefited, just as he did when landing in the gentler side of the draw. Some would argue, too, that lady luck was on side at the 2014 Australian Open because Nadal sustained a back injury in the final.

But there’s little question that the powerful Wawrinka possesses the game to beat Djokovic — or anyone. Evidence of the threat he carried came from his recent grand slam performances against Djokovic: In their previous four matches, all of them went to five sets.

On Sunday Wawrinka smacked 59 winners; Djokovic hit 30 and made 41 unforced errors.

Djokovic came out stronger, manufacturing a break point in an opening game that featured the longest rally of the fortnight at 39 strokes. And keeping in line with his starts against Nadal and Murray, he was simply impregnable on serve.

A double fault handed Djokovic a 4-3 lead and cruising at 5-4, he brought up two set points on serve. But after not putting away a forehand volley and being handcuffed at the net on the ensuing point, things got interesting.

He also lost the next point, yet saved the break point with a service winner.

However, Djokovic’s struggles were just beginning.

Suddenly the serve, and his baseline play, abandoned him. In all but one of his service games in the second, Djokovic faced a break point. He finally cracked at 4-5 — then may have cracked his racket in frustration. Twice he sent his racket to the clay, earning a warning from chair umpire Damien Dumusois.

The Djokovic who’d crushed Murray for the first two and a half sets and Nadal was long gone. In un-Djokovic like numbers, he struck 14 unforced errors and only six winners.

Djokovic fended off three more break points in the second game of the third as the pressure mounted. Wawrinka was in full flow, eliciting gasps from the masses on Philippe-Chatrier court when he crushed a forehand winner down the line, then a backhand winner down the line in the sixth game in breaking again for 4-2.

But his biggest shot of the affair came with Djokovic serving at 5-2: Wawrinka pummeled a backhand around the net post for a clean winner.

It certainly would have made his pal Roger Federer proud. Federer took in a football game in Switzerland on Sunday but kept an eye on the tennis on his phone.

A sluggish Djokovic led 3-0 in the third but was pegged back for 3-3. Creaking at 15-40 he managed to saved two break points, the second with a stab backhand volley.

Temporarily surging, Djokovic had 0-40 on the Wawrinka serve at 4-3. The chances dissipated quickly, Wawrinka blasting a service winner to save the last break point.

One sensed Djokovic would be vulnerable in the next game and so it proved, Wawrinka blasting a backhand winner on the back-foot for 5-4.

To sum up Djokovic’s day, he erred on a break point in the final game. Wawrinka made him pay and sealed the title with a backhand winner down the line.

Wawrinka became the first man since Mats Wilander in 1988 to win the men’s title after being its junior champ.

Serena Williams claimed the women’s title Saturday for a landmark 20th major when she beat Lucie Safarova in three sets. Safarova did win a title, though, capturing Sunday’s doubles final with U.S. partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands.