Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka picked up ATP 500 titles in Beijing and Tokyo respectively last week. While Djokovic’s title run just reminded us of his greatness, Wawrinka’s run taught us a little something about the multi-slam champ.
China Open final Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-2.
Novak Djokovic won his sixth consecutive title in Beijing so we did not learn too much about him from that win- we already knew he thrived on the high bouncing slow surface which gives him all the time he needs to get into a rhythm and control matters from the baseline.
We already knew how motivated Djokovic is, a slam champ turning up each year at an ATP 500 event and playing it with the same devotion and passion he gives to the 1000s and Majors (the way Federer does in Halle and Nadal does in Barcelona).
We also knew Djokovic is as sturdy as they get in tennis. For while his scores through the draw – 6-1, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2- looked as smooth as it gets, there were some sketchy moments, particularly in the final.
Nadal, playing some decent tennis on hard courts for the first time this season, had break points in the first set, trailing 2-3. The Spaniard, hitting with more depth than he has done lately and making some smart decisions, bringing Djokovic in and passing him rather than letting him camp happily at the baseline, looked set to make a real battle of it. The kind of battle Djokovic wanted to avoid with the Shanghai Rolex Masters starting next week. A battle he avoided as he ramped up the aggression, played smart on the serve, got himself out of trouble and never looked back.
In his element on slow hard-courts, a devotion to his sport wherever he goes, and the ability to knuckle down and fight- we knew Djokovic had these qualities, but it was a privilege to be reminded anyway.
Rakuten Tokyo Open Final Stan Wawrinka defeats Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-4.
While Djokovic was reminding us of his strengths, Wawrinka was teaching us new things about himself.
The two time slam winner has ‘only’ won 9 other titles outside of his slams, the most prestigious of those being the ATP 1000 Monte Carlo, and he had not won a 500 title until Rotterdam this season. In fact, before winning his first slam, the Australian Open 2014, the Swiss had won four titles in his 12 years as a pro, and all at 250 level.
Part of the reason for Wawrinka’s unbalanced title haul is both his strength and his weakness- his streakiness. “Stanimal’ is perfectly capable of beating in-form world no.1s Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in slam finals, or Roger Federer in an ATP 1000 final, as he is of going out to world no.74 Federico Delbonis in the last eight of the 250 Geneva Open or going down to 103rd ranked Tatsuma Ito in the first round of a 500, as he did in the Tokyo first round last season.
This year, he again came up against Ito in Tokyo, now ranked 127, in the round of 16, and this time he did not get down on himself but fought through the doubts and won 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
That was the only set Wawrinka lost all week on his run to his fourth title of the year, the most he has won in one season. That run told us Stan had it in him to be as focused in the mid-range events as he has shown he can be at the game’s highest levels. The kind of focus that could help him build up his resume, balance it out and enhance his legacy.
Commentary by Christian Deverille.
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