Stan Wawrinka defeated Novak Djokovic in the 2016 US Open final to clinch his third Grand Slam title. He later revealed that he suffered an anxiety attack right before the match. To deal with it, he said he pushed himself physically to exhaustion to distract himself.
Wawrinka’s ordeal of playing a long match against Djokovic and the physical toll it takes is a monument to the Serb’s resilience. It takes something special to outplay and outlast the 23-time Grand Slam winner. Laslo Djere, who lost a five-setter against Djokovic in the 2023 US Open third round, can attest nothing has changed over the years.
How Wawrinka dealt with anxiety attack before 2016 US Open final vs. Novak Djokovic
In the first US Open since 1999 without Roger Federer, fellow Swiss Wawrinka stepped up and made it to the finals. Here he faced then-World No.1 Novak Djokovic, Wawrinka, who saved a match point in his third-round match, had spent 18 hours on the court before the finals. Djokovic had won two Grand Slams that year already and was the favorite to clinch his third. The Serb won the first set, brushing aside Wawrinka 7-1 in the tiebreak. The Swiss, however, bounced back remarkably to win 6-7 (1) 6-4 7-5 6-3 and lift the 2016 US Open title.
Wawrinka later said that barely minutes before entering the Arthur Ashe Stadium for the final, he suffered an anxiety attack. He said he was crying and on the verge of a total breakdown. The former World No.3 revealed that he distracted his mind by tiring himself physically, to the point of it hurting. He said he tried to extend rallies to stop his mind from panicking again.
“So, how did I do it? I’ll tell you. I hurt myself. I tried to extend rallies as much as possible – one more shot, and another – to make the legs churn and not the head. I pushed myself until I ran out of breath. Past that point the mind isn’t too capable of thinking.”
Wawrinka then elaborated upon the toll this approach took on his body. The nervousness made the fatigue worse, he said. The three-time Grand Slam champion added the pain, especially in his legs, was tremendous. However, the exhaustion was so great that he managed to get over his anxiety, succeeding in his strategy.
“When I’m nervous like that, the fatigue feels a lot, lot stronger. And my legs hurt so much. I even screamed at my box, ‘I can’t make it. I’m dead. My legs are gone’. I was hurting so much. I was pushing myself so hard. I was so out of breath that I finally ended up muffling those little voices in my head.”
Beating Djokovic pushed Wawrinka to the limit. Seven years later, the Serb is still an extremely hard nut to crack and compatriot Djere will agree.
Comeback against Djere shows Djokovic’s resilience has not dropped
Djokovic breezed through his first couple of matches at the 2023 US Open before facing an unexpectedly stern test in the form of fellow Serbian Djere. The two Serbs played out an epic five-setter as Djokovic bounced back incredibly to win 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3. After winning the first two sets, Djere must not have expected to match to go on for three hours and 45 minutes till 1:30 a.m. local time. Djokovic showed his trademark resilience to snatch victory from his good friend.
Djere played high-quality tennis, something even Djokovic acknowledged. The World No.2 said that his opponent played the best tennis of his life, saying this was one of the toughest matches he has played at the US Open. World No.38 Djere powered through the first two sets with some wonderful rallying. Djokovic then took a bathroom break before the third set and returned to kickstart the comeback. With the win, the #2 seed moves on to the fourth round where he will face Croatian qualifier Bora Gojo.
