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US Open By The Numbers – Djokovic & Wawrinka

Ros Satar
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By Ros Satar

  • Defending champion Novak Djokovic will face Stan Wawrinka once more for a Grand Slam title
  • Wawrinka is 2-0 in his Slam finals as he looks for his first US Open, and third Slam overall
  • Stats from TennisAbstract.com & USOPen.org
NEW YORK, USA – It all comes down to this – Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka will bring the curtain down on this year’s US Open but who will come out on top?

 

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Head to Head

Novak Djokovic Stan Wawrinka
19 4

This head to head had largely been one way traffic for the World No. 1 since 2007, when he went on a 14-match winning streak against the Swiss, but that all ended in a landmark year for Wawrinka, as he beat Djokovic on his way to winning his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open, 2014.

Since then while Djokovic has had the lion’s share of wins, it is worth noting that the last time the pair met in a Grand Slam final, the honours went to Wawrinka as he denied Djokovic his claim on the French Open title.

It is also worth noting that Stan is on a 10-title winning streak in finals, dating back to the season opener in Chennai, 2013. Where Djokovic has been metronomically consistent for the past few years, Wawrinka is a big occasion player.

 

Slam History

Novak Djokovic Stan Wawrinka
Titles 12 2
Finals 8 0

While Djokovic gallops headlong towards surpassing Rafael Nadal’s 14 Grand Slam titles, Wawrinka looks to add to his collection, equalling Andy Murray, and actually finding himself just one Slam short of a career collection.

What is more impressive is that although Wawrinka lags behind in silverware, he has a 100% record so far in Slam finals.

 

Year to Date W/L Record

Novak Djokovic Stan Wawrinka
All surfaces W/L 56-5 38-12
Hard-court 38-2 25-6

Almost everything that Djokovic has touched has turned to gold, silverware or ostentatious glassware – almost. He has had a few more tough losses in the run up to this tournament, perhaps the most significant being his Olympic campaign ending in Round One.

Wawrinka started the year well with his almost customary win in Chennai, and the Dubai title and while he has been consistent in the hard court Masters, this is his best run to date.

 

Match Stats 2016

Novak Djokovic Stan Wawrinka
Tie-Breaks (hard court) 16-6 (11-4) 19-10 (12-4)
Deciding sets (hard court) 6-2 (3-1) 10-4 (6-3)

Wawrinka takes the edge on set tie-breaks, thanks to his aggressive style of play and has gone the distance far more over the course of this year. Of course that might not always be a good thing, especially in a Slam but does underline his abilities to come out on the winning side more often than not.

 

Tournament

djokovic-wawrinka-by-the-numbers

Wawrinka takes the edge on his serving, but in truth it probably more by sheer volume of time spent on court compared to Djokovic who has been gifted his route to the final, though of course no fault of his own.

The pair are pretty closely matched in terms of break points converted and their returning games, so we ought to be in for a close match.

In terms of winners though, Wawrinka stands head and shoulders over Djokovic, even allowing for having played far longer. Djokovic will need to be able to switch to his defensive best to survive a Wawrinka onslaught.

We can expect this to be at least a four, if not five set bruising encounter.

The US Open Men’s Singles Final is scheduled on Arthur Ashe Stadium at 4pm (9pm BST).