Djokovic defends his fourth round against extremely resilient and motivated Wawrinka | Watch screen shots of 5th set

I have been watching Grand Slams and other tennis greats since long, but what I witnessed today was something classic - something that will be remembered as an epic Australian Open match - a match by two men who did not fail themselves till the very last and it was just a thin line separating the two from victory and defeat till the very last ball.

Djokovic celebrates his hard earned win after 12-10 in the fifth set [Screen shot: Euro Sport]

Yes I am talking of the fourth round encounter between the world no.1 and the defending champion Novak Djokovic and 17th ranked Stanislas Wawrinka Sunday evening today.

Having lost his first set Wawrinka 1-6, Djokovic won the next two sets 7-5 6-4. Now everyone thought that the world no.1 would take the fourth set and move on - but that wasn't to be so as Wawrinka came back to game once again to win the fourth set 7(7)-6(5).

 

 

 

With two sets equal, the real battle started - the battle to move to the quarters. And what a battle it was. Wawrinka recoiled from every move Djokovic made and the equalized game started to a never ending thing. After 6-6, it was all consecutive numbers  7-7, 8-8. 9-9. 10-10. And it was here the game started to tilt in Djokovic's favour who finally made it 12-10 and won the match.

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But the match Wawrinka played and the battle he fought will be remembered forever - for he showed that with resilience, hard worked, determination and positiveness  one can make wonders and wonders he did, making it extremely difficult for the Serbian to clinch the game from him.

And Djokovic too showed his determination to win and literally snatched away the last set from the teeth of Wawrinka, he wasn't letting it to go.

Two true players shaking hands after the match

Today's match was Novak Djokovic's 171st Slam  match, but first that has ever gone past 7-7 in fifth and won over 12-10. Stanislas Wawrinka, meanwhile, won 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-2, 6-7 (8), 11-9 over Ivo Karlovic in Wimbledon 2006, his only previous match past 7-7.

But one thing is for sure - in days to come, a new name in the top ranking players is to emerge soon: Stanislas Wawrinka, who in the absence of Nadal, and soon the void to be created by aging Federer, will shine and be number one some day.

All screen shots are courtesy Suro Sport

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