Novak Djokovic’s dreams of authenticating his greatness were brutally thrown back in his face on Sunday as Stan Wawrinka shocked him to win the French Open.
Like his coach Boris Becker and many other outstanding players, the world number one is still without the clay court Grand Slam to his name as he was beaten 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 by the hulking Swiss in three hours and 12 minutes.
Djokovic hoped to join Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as the only players in the modern era to win all four Majors, but must come back again next year to give it another try.
Stan Wawrinka beat Novak Djokovic in the final of the 2015 French Open at Roland Garros on Sunday
Djokovic holds up his runner-up trophy and acknowledges a rapturous reception in defeat to Wawrinka
28-year-old Djokovic threw all that he possibly could at Wawrinka and was graceful in defeat
Wawrinka turns and roars to the crowd in celebration after taking match point against Djokovic to secure glory
Wawrinka, whose confidence was massively boosted by a first Grand Slam win over Federer in the quarter finals , said 'I am sure Novak will win it one year.'
The whole tournament has been a massive turnaround for Wawrinka. He began it fifteen days ago furious at an article on the official Roland Garros website that detailed his recent marriage split, and ended it two Sundays later lifting the trophy.
He was a popular enough winner although the crowd was surprisingly even handed throughout, given that he is a Francophone and was clearly the underdog.
The result also ends any hopes Djokovic has of doing the calendar year Grand Slam, something his form suggested he was capable of. He now has to decide whether to play a grass court warm up event ahead of Wimbledon, either at Queens or at Halle in Germany.
Djokovic had beaten nine-time champion Rafael Nadal and Britain's Andy Murray en route to the final, but Wawrinka, who won the boys' singles title at Roland Garros in 2003, cemented his place among the elite with an outstanding performance.
The tone was set in the opening game as Djokovic earned a break point but Wawrinka edged an enthralling 39-shot rally, the longest of the tournament so far, to survive and hold.
Wawrinka was eager to dictate the points, stepping through the baseline and unleashing his heavy groundstrokes but they resulted in errors as well as winners and Djokovic's defence was often up to the task.
Another break point came and went for the world number one in the fifth game but at 3-3, he finally made one count as a backhand wide from Wawrinka conceded 40-0, before a double fault allowed Djokovic to convert.
Serving for the set at 5-4, Djokovic was fortunate to hear Wawrinka's forehand winner called out, particularly as hawk-eye would have judged it in, which opened up two set points.
Wawrinka saved both with two thundering passing shots before earning one chance to break, but Djokovic held his nerve to serve out the first set.
The Swiss was not deterred as his hitting became more persistent and more precise in the second, but five break points came and went - the fifth prompting and angry lashing on the net - before he finally took his chance.
It came at the perfect time too as Djokovic, serving to stay in the set, hit an uncharacteristic forehand long as Wawrinka deservedly drew level.
Wawrinka celebrated with his coach shortly after securing his epic victory over Djokovic at the French Open
The French Open title is the Swiss Wawrinka's second grand slam after winning the Australian Open in 2014
Wawrinka battled past Djokovic after an enthralling and gruelling fourth set in final in France
World No 1 Djokovic is yet to win the French Open title in his trophy laden career so far in tennis
Djokovic started the final very strongly and the man from Serbia took the first set of the final 6-4
Djokovic mangled his racket, which almost bounced into a ball-boy, and the Serb's troubles were far from over as Wawrinka's dominance continued with two stupendous winners in the sixth game to break and lead 4-2.
Djokovic was rattled and Wawrinka compounded his opponent's misery with another thundering backhand before serving out to put his opponent behind in sets for the first time in the tournament.
The momentum seemed firmly with the Swiss and while a sloppy service game handed Djokovic a lifeline at the start of the fourth, he broke back to level at 3-3.
Djokovic came under pressure again on his serve as Wawrinka opened up two break points but the world number one found a new level to save both, the second with a diving volley to survive and lead 4-3.
It felt like a turning point but Wawrinka refused to lie down and he came back from 40-0 in the next game to pass the pressure back on to Djokovic before unleashing another stunning backhand pass to break and serve for the championship.
Djokovic is renowned for his resilience and he saved one match point with a composed volley but there was no fairy-tale fightback as a Wawrinka backhand sailed past and confirmed a stunning victory in three hours and 12 minutes.
The Swiss, at 30, becomes an unlikely twice Grand Slam winner late in his career after his superb heavy groundstroking overwhelmed Djokovic, who was a little ragged by his own stratospheric standards.
Wawrinka managed to carve out only a second win in his last eighteen meetings with the Serb, recapturing the form that brought him the Australian Open title eighteen months ago, where he beat Djokovic in the quarter final.
Wawrinka fought back to take the second set 6-3 and move level with Djokovic at one set apiece
Djokovic struggled to get the game to play out in his favour during the third set against Wawrinka
Wawrinka then fought his way past Djokovic to take the third set 6-3 and move ahead of the Serbian
He might acknowledge the role Andy Murray played in taking the Serb to five sets and a second day yesterday in a match that spanned four hours and nine minutes.
As luck had it, he had also needed to contend with a massive quarter final over Rafael Nadal, and it all must surely have taken its toll.
The Swiss is well equipped to disrupt Djokovic just by the sheer force of his groundstrokes, which even the greatest mover in the game struggles to reach.
He has seriously improved his forehand in the last two years, to go with that beautifully elegant and powerful backhand.
Wawrinka described it as the match of his life afterwards, having come back from 0-3 in the fourth set and then got his nose ahead when he broke for 5-4.
He had good reason to thank his remarkable down the line backhand, which did enormous damage, especially with the World No 1 keen to attack the net to shorten the points.
Appropriately it was that shot that won him the title on his second match point, and Djokovic responded sportingly in his moment of disappointment.
Winning the French Open is not easy. Only Federer and Nadal have done it in the last ten years.
Djokovic appeared rattled in the third set as Wawrinka powered his way into the lead at Roland Garros
Wawrinka stretches out to reach the ball in the French Open final against Djokovic in France on Sunday
The Philippe Chatrier court at Roland Garros was packed to see the 2015 final between the two
Djokovic was in action a day before the final to beat Andy Murray and rejected fears of tiredness afterwards
Boris Becker, Djokovic's coach, never won the French Open during his own illustrious playing career
Many have failed like John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors and Stefan Edberg in recent times.
Djokovic is the world’s best player, clearly, but finds himself stuck with the Parisian bridesmaids rather than joining even more elevated company, and he will be 29 when he attempts it next time after suffering what is just his third defeat of the year.
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