U.S. Open Late-Rounds: Stan the Man Stands Tall

Hey, all. Galileo here.

Well, here we go again. Stan Wawrinka is a slam away from being a greater player than Murray, Lendl, Sampras, Goolagong, Nastase, Borg and a host of others.

So special to add a new ?? !!! @usopen #newyork #trophy #stanimal ???????????????????????????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/xKHTt0I11Z

— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) September 13, 2016

It’s ridiculous, sure, but the slams trump all. Despite Murray’s ten major finals, Wawrinka has the same amount from three and is a step closer to the Career Slam. Only four men have done that, and only five women have done it. Goolagong is the next closest.

Wawrinka made the kind of run that will be talked about, and dismissed Djokovic to boot. He saw off Del Potro, one of the form players in the world.

Murray’s mental frailties looked to be a thing of the past. Well, until they weren’t. Here is the moment Murray’s brain melted:


It’s just so Murray to make three slam finals and be really good in the one he lost and mediocre in the other two. That Australian Open final was utterly forgettable. And in SW19, he did enough to get the win without ever looking like a world beater. This BACKSPINNER admits that Murray had the potential to be a number one and even the consistency. On the WTA, with his good backhand and fiery temper, he would have been a solid number one. But he was always a notch behind the stars, the Colin Firth to Hugh Grant, the Gerard Butler to their Julia Roberts. Honestly, would any of the other three have missed a beat because of a sound? No, they would have gone out and broken Kei’s serve.

But in the end, in the most dramatic of fashions, and despite Murray winning the first set 6-1, it was the Scot for whom the bell would toll.

In the top semi-final, Novak Djokovic faced off against Gael Monfils and overcame questionable tactics from the Frenchman. Monfils, in true mystifying style, decided to sit there and block everything back. Chip after chip off the Monfils racket. He did take the third set, but Nole was in control for most of his 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory. Djokovic broke eight times as Monfils hit 52 errors. It was a car crash performance from the enigmatic Frenchman. It means another forgettable slam semi-final, too.

Wawrinka won going away as Kei Nishikori faded badly in a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 loss to the Swiss. His first truly positive major result in 24 months ended at the hands of the eventual champion. That’s a solid enough performance and he does have time to win a major, though his window is not as wide as it was. The key stat? He won 37 per cent of second serve points, just a notch above a third. His going 27-47 on the errors count certainly didn’t help matters. Kei looked a broken man after Wawrinka took the second. You could feel that the Swiss was over the hump. Wawrinka has shown this whole tournament he can close out matches. He so rarely allows his opponents back in. Sure, Marchenko broke him serving for it but the Swiss put together some sublime serving days.



In doubles, Herbert/Mahut were denied in the semi-finals by J.Murray/Soares. The Frenchies remain top ranked and will head into the fall swing and tour finals as favourites. Siegemund and Pavic took out the mixed and a big paycheck. They faced no seeds and dropped no sets. So, a successful tournament.

In the juniors, Félix Auger-Aliassime made a second slam final this year. After losing the French he took this one, though losing in the doubles final will slightly taint an excellent week. He and compatriot Sigouin lost to a South American pair.




*DAVIS CUP SF*
Argentina at Great Britain
France at Croatia

...As for the Davis Cup semifinals, honestly, on clay this might be tight. But while Argentina are really good at punching above their weight this will be too much for them. Del Potro should pick up a win. In fact, Britain will win the doubles and Andy Murray’s matches. And that will be enough. Of course it depends how tired Murray is, but Jamie Murray has just won a slam. And they will be buoyed by that. Scotland will triumph again and by a score of 3-2.

In the other pre-tournament favourites for the Davis, well, here in BACKSPIN town anyway, France go to indoor hard courts in Zadar, Croatia. Herbert/Mahut will win one and, between Gasquet and Pouille, France can find two more somewhere. The depth of the French is mindboggling. No Tsonga or Monfils? Well how about a three time major semi-finalist and a guy who has been to back to back slam quarters this year? France go through 3-2. And they should win the final because they’ll beat Scotland in the doubles.

And now that that’s all clear, it’s time for the U.S. Open final.


CENTRE COURT: WAWRINKA D. DJOKOVIC
...This was not a Federer-esque romp or a display of how to dominate the field. This was no cruise in the sun or a walk in the park. Wawrinka had to grind and work for this one. He lost six sets but did sweep through the penultimate three rounds, against premier opposition, and only lost three sets. And when was the last time Nole won the first set of a match but went on to lose? The way he took Delpo apart at the bottom end of a charged up night match and man-handled Nishikori was his way of sending out a message. And then coming back to beat Djokovic in a slam final. It was an extraordinary run, the likes of which should not be forgotten. And he is still stuck at number three. But here’s the thing - Wawrinka could take the number one ranking. He has so few points to defend through lots of next year. He needs to find consistency, but he is capable. His ground game is so hard to deal with, partially because it is so hard to predict. Nine aces and 46-51 on the winners. Wawrinka hit 15 on one side and 14 on the other. But Djokovic did not show up. After all those retirements he looked a tad out of it and struggled to really find his feet. He hit 46 errors, which is an anomaly. But beyond that he never looked like winning once Vavsy took out the third set. And he didn’t.

Now, finally a question for the boss. Where does Wawrinka stand in that greatest conversation? I think that he is a great example for journeymen. There is still time to rise up and win a major or three. No matter.

Ed.Response: Well, just ranking him in the conversation of his generation, he's still fifth-best, I think, though he'll always have his supporters because of his likability and big-match prowess. While his undefeated record in slam finals is impressive, Murray's longer period of great results -- plus two Olympic singles Golds -- keeps him ahead in that standings. That said, he's a sure-fire Hall of Famer now. And it's hard to believe anyone could have said that two years ago. His Olympic doubles Gold is a nice feather in his cap, too. Now, if he were to get a Career Slam, though, that'd make for a REALLY interesting debate between Murray & Wawrinka behind the real Big 3 of the generation, and probably spark some additional, half-hearted arguments vs. Djokovic if HE never wins Roland Garros.

Wawrinka's accomplishments remind me a bit of Hana Mandlikova. Her entire career took place in the Navratilova/Evert era, but she still managed to slip through and win four slam titles and get three-quarters (AO, RG & US) of the way to a Career Slam. In 1985, she even defeated both Martina and Chris en route to the title. Unlike Wawrinka, though, she appeared in two additional U.S. Open finals, as well as two at the only major she didn't win -- Wimbledon. Much like Murray, the presence of Navratilova and Evert prevented a much larger haul, as she was 2-4 against those two in slams finals, but 2-0 against anyone else. - tds


We will not see Kiki this week, but the Asian fall swing rapidly approaches and of course she will be playing at the WTA tour finals. The big goal now is to finish as the top ranked team. A very good final showing in New York will help. Of course, Mirza may well finish as the stand-alone number one; she leads Hingis by five points, but this team should finish top of the pile. They swapped in the rankings this week with Mladenovic leading her compatriot by 25 points in the number three ranking.

In the singles, she has dropped to 51. It’s a disaster and a massive fall from her top 30 ranking at the start of the year.

They dropped no sets in their final run, including dismissing Hingis and Mirza in back to back rounds. But they blew the final as they went down to Mattek-Sands/Safarova 2-6, 7-6[5], 6-4. They proved this whole tournament they are the best pair in the world by seeing off top two in the world and dropping no sets. The final result is not great, but it is forgivable. Bring on the fall swing.

Thanks all and visit WTA BACKSPIN please.

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