The former Australian Open Champion’s match in Rod Laver Arena against Lukas Rosol was about as casual as a third round Grand Slam match could be. Wawrinka easily prevailed in straight sets 6-2 6-3 7-6 (3).
Both players looked very comfortable right from the start, and their lack of nerves throughout made for a hard hitting filled, albeit somewhat boring match. Long rallies were few and far in between in this aggressive slug fest competition. In the first set 4th game, Rosol’s usual style of big hitting regardless of the score line caught up with him down 0-40. He managed to save the first, but then quickly dumps a backhand into the net to give Stan the break for 3-1. Wawrinka seemed to mirror his opponent up to this point, serving big and keeping the points short to extend the lead for 4-1. Not giving up right away, Rosol battled his way back in the next game to hold serve, by far the longest game thus far. Unable to threaten Wawrinka in his service games, Rosol once again found himself down 2-5, 0-40. Wawrinka quickly took advantage to wrap up the 1set in 30 minutes.
Set 2 unfolded very much like the first, with both men serving big and keeping points short. IN the 3rd game Rosol finally earned an opening at 30-40 on the Swiss’s racket but it was quick;y erased. Well underway into the match at this point, Wawrinka actually grew more casual, often hitting a slow paced slice backhand out of nowhere in the middle of the point. Rosol stuck to his aggressive playing style, coming to net often or going for a big forehand winner. In the 6th game the #4 seed looked like he had enough and blasted a forehand winner for break point. Rosol replied by bringing it back to deuce. The next point found Rosol back at net, and this time Stan gave the crowd his trademark backhand for a pass to earn a 2nd break point. This time he did not squander the chance and grabbed the lead for 4-2. Just as quickly however, Stan the Man went back to being Stan the Casual Man and gifted the break right back with a few careless points. The big hitting Czech was unable to tone down his aggressive game however, and more unforced errors allowed Stan to serve for the set at 5-3, which the Swiss obliged happily. Another 30 minute set.
Set 3 began, you guessed it, the same as the previous two. Rosol continued to go big on his serves, taking trips to net as he had done all match to hold serve quickly. Not to be outdone, Stan began to follow suit, mixing in some serve & volley to wrap up his service game. The points remained very short. Once again, it wasn’t until the 6th game the crowd was treated to some excitement. Down break point, Stan threw in massive serves to bring it back to deuce. Rosol then blasted a forehand into the net for ad -in. Stan held on for 3-3, and the crowd began to chant ‘Stan Wawrinka, Stan Wawinka!”. Rosol silenced the crowd by holding at love for 4-3. As if the points couldn’t get any shorter, Wawrinka held serve to level at 4-4 in what felt like 2 minutes. This would spill over into the next game as Lukas kept rushing to net to finish points out. One could argue this match was made more exciting by the amount of times Rosol came to net, which has become quite a rarity in today’s modern topspin game. With the score board even at 5-5, Wawrinka decided to go for a very casual slice serve return that landed super short, and Rosol pounced on it for a crosscourt winner to take teh lead 6-5. This seemed to snap the former champ out of his daydream and he proceeded to hold serve to take it to a tiebreak.
The stakes were certainly higher now, but it didn’t look that way as both players seemed to play each point one at a time with almost no point construction, merely going through the motions expecting a positive outcome. Then at 3-2, on serve, Stan’s ball at the baseline was called out just as Rosol attempted a tweener to stay in the point, which he missed badly. Wawrinka challenged the call, and the ball was in fact in, but the referee declared a replay of the point because of the timing of the call. Visibly upset, the world #4 was able to gather his composure and win the point again for 3-3. He then followed it up with a winner down the line for the first mini break. The rest was history as Rosol failed to win a single point for the rest of the tiebreak, 7-3.
In the post match interview with Jim Courier, Stan talked about ‘Improving my game, focusing on myself” Then on a lighter note, Jim asked the winner about his clothing sponsorship with Yonex, to which Stan quipped “I see two guys with shorts from French Open so good job guys”. Then referring to his current gear: “For sure this one is quite flashy. At least everybody can see me in the stadium so I like it.” He capped off the interview in regards to his hoarse voice with perhaps the GOAT answer: “Maybe too many cigar…..if I can talk I talk too much shit.”
