

The year was 2015 and it was the clay swing of the tennis season. The spotlight was fixed on the Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris. All eyes were on two men- Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka.
One was looking invincible, on a quest to complete his long-awaited dream of a Career Grand Slam. The other was a man who often flew below the radar due to a certain Roger Federer, but had won a Grand Slam the year before and was looking for his second Major.
Novak Djokovic had absolutely destroyed Rafael Nadal earlier in the event, becoming only the second man ever to manage it. The stage was set for him to finally get his hands on the missing Major.
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Novak had a very dominating record against Wawrinka with 17 wins and 3 losses. The Serb looked ever so dominant, and for the most part, it seemed like the final could very well be just a formality.
Novak Djokovic made to wait another year
Djokovic started the match like a champion would, controlling the rallies, making Stan work his socks off before delivering the killer blow. He took the first set relatively comfortably, 6-4. The second set was similar to the first one. Both players were holding their serves until out of the blue, Stan Wawrinka came alive.
The Swiss broke Novak’s serve at 4-5 to level the match. There was no looking back after that. Wawrinka’s confidence just skyrocketed after that and he started hitting the ball as purely as I have seen in my life.
Alas, Novak Djokovic had no answer to the power of the animal inside Stan.
Wawrinka won the next two sets comfortably to win the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 and take home his second Grand Slam.
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The day Stan conquered the clay…#RolandGarros | @stanwawrinka pic.twitter.com/LrW8fOAXQx
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) March 28, 2020
As a Novak fan, I do not remember a more devastating loss for the Serb. I simply could not believe what I had seen on the day. Even so, I cannot deny Stan simply deserved that based on his performance.
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“I played the match of my life,” Wawrinka said after the match.
Novak did manage to finally complete his Career Grand Slam the following year.
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