Swiss sensation Stanislas Wawrinka defeated a hobbling Rafael Nadal, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Australian Open that marks the first Grand Slam victory of his career.
The newly-crowned Australian Open champion had never won a set against Nadal in their 12 previous match-ups, but outplayed his highly-heralded rival to score a resounding upset against the world's top ranked male tennis player. With this triumph, Wawrinka will move up to no.3 in the world rankings and surpassing his good friend and compatriot, 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer.
In his acceptance speech, Wawrinka paid tribute to his fallen opponent. As quoted by ESPN.com, he said: "Rafa, I'm really sorry for you, I hope your back is going to be fine, you're a really great guy, good friend and really amazing champion."
The Spanish star, a 13-time Grand Slam winner, almost retired in the second set with a hurting back and even asked for a medical time out. But he courageously fought off the pain and gamely took Wawrinka to four sets before eventually losing.
Wawrinka was upset after Nadal took the medical timeout, asking why his opponent was given the break. Nadal took a seven minute respite, and returned to the court amidst boos from the crowd who were bothered that he sat out after falling behind by a set to the Swiss star.
Nadal would eventually lost the next game to fall behind 3-1. He asked for more treatment after trailing further at 4-1 in the second set.
Interestingly, the crowd started to get behind Nadal again after Wawrinka jumped to a two set lead, urging him to continue playing. Nadal stormed back in the third set as the world no. 8 player felt the pressure of playing against a hobbled opponent.
But Wawrinka managed to regain his composure, dominating Nadal in the fourth set. He would eventually complete his conquest of the Spanish star in two hours and 21 minutes, completing a fantastic tournament wherein he beat the top two seeds.
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