Elegance and brute strength combined
Stan Wawrinka is beloved for his backhand. His one-hander has been called the greatest ground stroke in the history of the game by John McEnroe, and when Wawrinka blasts one down the line, on the dead run, for a missile-like winner, it’s hard to argue with that assessment. No one has blended elegance with brute strength from that side quite like Stan.
As of Monday, though, it had been quite a while since anyone’s jaw had dropped at the sight of a Wawrinka backhand. Last year, he underwent knee surgery and missed the last six months of the season, and his comeback in 2018 had been a struggle at best.
Wawrinka came to Wimbledon with a losing record this year, and a ranking of No.224. When he lost the first set 6-1 to Grigor Dimitrov, it was easy to imagine that Wawrinka’s career could be coming to a close fairly soon. While we’ve grown accustomed to top players never fading away, 33 will never be a prime age for a tennis player.
But Wawrinka, who won the first of his three major titles at 28, has always been a late bloomer, and he proved to be again on Monday. It wasn’t his backhand that resurrected him this time. It was something else in his game that we had been missing: his fight.
It was a big surprise to fight after losing the first set... but I knew it was my only way. I knew I would be nervous
For the first 10 years of his career, Wawrinka had been a blaster rather than a battler; even his coach, Magnus Norman, said that he had a reputation for being “a little bit soft” - not the man for the big occasion. But with Norman’s help, Wawrinka changed all that in his late 20s and early 30s.
He won three Grand Slam titles, and finally conquered the 'big four' by turning himself into the toughest of tough outs - and not being afraid to show how much he wanted to win in the most important matches.
It was that Wawrinka, the one who wouldn’t let himself lose, who returned on Monday, and who simply out-competed Dimitrov. He snuck through the second set in a tie-break. He came back from 2-5 down in the third set. He won the third set tie-break with a turn-back-the-clock, running backhand pass. He saved a break point early in the fourth set with the same shot. He broke Dimitrov’s spirit, and then broke him for the match.
“It was a big surprise to fight after losing the first set,” Wawrinka said, “but I knew it was my only way. I knew I would be nervous.”
In the process, Wawrinka showed us what has been missing from the men’s game over the 18 months. During that time, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, 36 and 32 respectively, have re-ascended the rankings, and divided up the last six major titles.
While the older generation - Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Wawrinka - has been sidelined with injury, the younger generation hasn’t stood in Roger or Rafa’s way. Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios, Dimitrov himself: they have the shots, the style, the talent, the flashes of brilliance - even, in Thiem’s and Dimitrov’s cases, the brilliant one-handed backhands - but none has proven to be the man for the big occasion yet. So far their careers have looked a little like Wawrinka’s did in his 20s.
Wawrinka will have more struggles ahead; he said he was happy just to be able to move well. And he had plenty of help from Dimitrov. But Stan showed us what made him so successful over the last five years, and showed the younger generation how far the raw desire to win can take you. The backhand down-the-line-winner that Wawrinka hit on set point was a welcome sight inside Centre Court. And so was the leaping fist-pump he did to celebrate it.