Stan Wawrinka planted his forehand approach just deep enough so that, when Daniel Evans responded with a drilled backhand, the Swiss player was capable of planting a delicate drop-volley winner.
At match point down in the third round of the 2016 US Open, Wawrinka had just pulled off a shot that would prove symbolic of the performance under pressure that defined his title run at Flushing Meadows. The then-31-year-old survived Evans in five sets and, eight days later, defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic to lift his third major trophy.
Ten years on from that magical New York moment, ATPTour.com sat down with the Swiss to reflect on a whirlwind run to the trophy. One in which he saved a match point, battled through the heat and humidity, and eventually overcame the defending champion.
“Those two weeks were really special,” Wawrinka said. “Saving match point in the third round against Dan Evans… Then that final weekend. I think the biggest thing I’m proud of was getting through the final weekend. That was really challenging, in really hot and humid conditions for all the players.
“I remember the semi-final and the final were extremely difficult, physically, but also with the weather. So it was really a tough weekend, but New York is so special to me. It's one of my favourite cities and winning the US Open is something really high up in my career.”
For all the heat and testing conditions that Wawrinka faced, he did not show it across the home straight. Having rallied past former finalist Kei Nishikori to reach his third major final in as many years, he set up a showdown with Djokovic, who was the defending champion and World No. 1.
Wawrinka had already proven he could produce his best tennis deep into a Grand Slam tournament. He had won his previous two major finals at the 2014 Australian Open and 2015 Roland Garros, defeating Rafael Nadal and Djokovic respectively. But this moment felt different.
Stan Wawrinka faces Novak Djokovic in the 2016 US Open final. Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images
It was his first US Open final, and the pressure of the occasion surfaced before he had even stepped onto court. Wawrinka was moved to tears during an emotional conversation with his coach Magnus Norman.
“It was a stressful moment — that can happen in sport,” Wawrinka said. “I was really nervous coming into the final. It was not the easiest entry ever, but I had a great talk with Magnus, who really helped me to get through that moment. He really helped me to be in the moment and to not think too much about the outcome.
“It was my third final. I was already 32 years old. So for me, I was maybe thinking a bit too much that it could maybe be my last chance, my last opportunity to win a Slam. It was my first final at the US Open, so I was thinking, 'I don't want to lose this one’. So many things that as a player, as an athlete, you experience and, in the end, I did the right thing on the court and that was the most important.”
Maybe Wawrinka was right to feel the tension. Djokovic had won the title the previous year and was playing in his seventh US Open final, while Wawrinka was attempting to become the second-oldest US Open champion in the Open Era. At 31 years and five months, he was already in territory rarely reached by major champions.
But once the match wore on, Wawrinka's nerves appeared to disappear. After Djokovic took the opening set in a tie-break, the Swiss began to take control with his trademark aggressive baseline game, striking 46 winners to Djokovic's 26 and eventually sealing a 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 victory after three hours, 55 minutes.
With the win — after which he lifted his arms aloft — Wawrinka had secured his third major title in as many finals. Even more remarkably, in each of those three finals he had defeated the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings: Nadal in Melbourne, and Djokovic in Paris and New York.
“I'm happy with that statistic,” Wawrinka says with a smile. “I think I've always been someone who is building confidence through the two weeks. The deeper I was going, the better I was playing. I knew I had everything to keep the level with them, so the deeper I was going in those Grand Slams, the better I was feeling. I knew I had the confidence that I was capable of beating anybody.”
Stan Wawrinka wins the 2016 US Open. Photo: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for USTA
Grow into the tournament he did that year in New York. By the time finals weekend came around, Wawrinka was moving with tremendous elegance and lacing winners from all corners of the court through his aggressive play, producing a performance with which, at the time, he became only the fifth man in the Open Era to win multiple Grand Slam titles after turning 30.
“There's many things that you want to do well, so you always put a lot of pressure on yourself,” Wawrinka added. “When you put pressure on yourself, you feel the nerves a bit more. But in the end, the best way to answer is knowing that you've prepared the best way possible, you've been practising the right way and that your level is there to compete.”
A decade on, the match point against Evans, the tears with Norman and the four-set victory over Djokovic remain snapshots of a fortnight in which, once again, Wawrinka found his best tennis when the stakes were highest.
And perhaps that is the most fitting way to remember his New York triumph: he did not make the pressure disappear. He simply found a way to play through it.
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