Invincible in tournament finals, Stan Wawrinka wins his first US Open in a four-setter over No. 1 Novak Djokovic

NEW YORK – One of the US Open finalists sat in his chair when it was all over, a half-smile on his face and nary a hair out of place, as if he had barely exerted himself.

That man, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, was not the winner on this night.

The new US Open champion was a dishevelled, sweaty mess, with a nose nearly as fuchsia as his Yonex kit. It’s the man who, moments before the match began, said he was shaking and crying as his coach went over some final details. 

Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka is now 11-0 when he reaches the final of a tournament and, at age 31, is one Wimbledon title short of completing the career Grand Slam after a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Djokovic.

When it was over, Wawrinka alternately raised his arms in triumph and grimaced in pain. He didn’t even want to try to risk jumping up to the players’ box to hug his people so he went the long way, through the crowd.

It was a dramatic evening, an entertaining match that won’t go down as one of the best finals ever but kept the crowd captivated for close to four hours with every momentum swung. Both players suffered physically as the effects of a gruelling fortnight took their toll.

“You have to accept to suffer and you have almost to enjoy to suffer. Because I think this Grand Slam was the most painful, physically and mentally, Grand Slam that I ever played,” Wawrinka said. “As I said, I was feeling tired already at the beginning of the match. I was feeling the cramp coming in the third set. In the fourth set I had some pain, but most important was what was clear with Magnus (coach Norman) before was not to show anything. Not to show anything. Give everything and keep fighting and go try to win it.”

It used to be that the weather took a turn during the second week of the Open. When it was done, you already could glimpse the first few leaves changing in upstate New York.

That meant that during the second half of the event when the best-of-five set matches in an ever-narrowing field get more and more difficult, the heat and humidity often were non-factors.

That was then, this is now.

And the way tennis has evolved, especially on the men’s side, major finals between major players have morphed into so many wars of attrition anyway.

The weather for the quarterfinals and semi-finals was a test all on its own. So even though Sunday's final was played on a fine, pleasant, late afternoon and evening with ideal conditions, the damage was done.

The cumulative effects of it showed Sunday when Djokovic suffered some toe issues that required him to take an untimely medical timeout and Wawrinka himself suffered some cramps that, per his plan, he did his mighty best not to let show.

For Djokovic, it was a little more complicated. An arm issue that popped up a few days before the Olympics in Rio – i.e., likely during the Rogers Cup in Toronto – had him wondering a week before his first round whether he might not just skip it. His serve, usually so reliable, certainly was affected by the arm woes.

“I made a lot of double faults throughout this tournament. I was struggling with that shot and with, you know, with the motion, with the movement and on the serve, with the technique because of what I carried into this tournament. So, you know, I was working a lot on it and trying to find that rhythm, but my body has kind of compensated and, you know, made some different things to protect the problem I had with the arm,” he said. “You know, unfortunately it wasn't – the serve wasn't there. When it was needed it wasn't there, and in the big matches like this you need the serve. I lost decisive games in second and third sets. Just handed him over with some unforced errors and bad serves. … I was trying to protect the serve, I guess, with other shots, but it wasn't to be today.”

The most visible issue on court was the bloody second toes on each of Djokovic’s feet – a new twist.

Early in the fourth set, the Serb seemed hobbled and during a long fourth game, signalled to chair umpire Ali Nili to call the trainer.

The game went on for six or seven more points before he finally held to get on the board at 1-3.

The medical timeout –actually, one for each toe – came just before Wawrinka was to serve and did not occur on a change of ends. That, understandably, had Wawrinka rather peeved because he wasn’t feeling great physically himself and after a long break, he might have trouble getting going again.

“He can see the physic (trainer) whenever he wants? So it’s new. Good to know,” he told Nili. “He could have done it while he was still serving.”

That last part was a pretty good argument, actually.

Once Djokovic had the shoes and socks off, it was clear why it was allowed. They were bloody; Djokovic coach Marian Vajda later told the media that Djokovic had to have the toenail removed.

If there’s anything Canadian tennis fans have learned this week with junior Bianca Andreescu’s bleeding leg and US Open junior champion Félix Auger-Aliassime’s multiple nosebleeds it’s that when it comes to blood, they don’t mess around.

The crowd wasn’t in on this, though, so many of the fans booed Djokovic enthusiastically when play resumed.

Of course, Wawrinka’s serve was broken. But he was undeterred.

When it was over, Wawrinka gladly accepted a Djoko-hug at the net.

The beginning of Djokovic’s season was incredible; with titles at the first two Grand Slams, he could claim to be the holder of all four major titles at once. But it got complicated after that, including – rumour has it – on the home front. And the man made of rubber has had some physical issues as well.

All it proves is that despite the fact that he sometimes seems superhuman physically, he’s merely a mortal.

The Grand Slam season is over, although there is still plenty to play for over the next two months until the 2016 season officially ends.

The spectacular late-summer evening on Arthur Ashe Stadium that wrapped up this US Open, the one without the crushing humidity? More of those, please. Preferably, for the exhausted protagonists, a little earlier in the week.