Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland poses with the trophy during the awarding ceremony after his men's singles final match against Rafael Nadal of Spain at 2014 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 26, 2014. Stanislas Wawrinka won 3-1 to be the champion. (Xinhua/Li Jundong)
Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland defeated 13-time Grand Slam winner Rafeal Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to win his first major on Sunday.
World No.1 Nadal was bothered with a back problem in the second set but the Spaniard rallied after medical timeout to win the third set.
After the match, Nadal said he felt back pain during the pre-match warm-up and the problem got worse during the match.
"It was a little bit worse in the first set. End of the first set, I start to feel worse," he said.
"Then at the beginning of the second was the key moment that I felt, during a serve in a bad movement, it's very stiff, very bad."
"But this is not the moment to talk about that, it's the moment to congratulate Stan. He's playing unbelievable and really deserve to win that title," Nadal added.
The eighth-seeded Swiss captured an early break to lead 3-1 and then saved three break points before serving out the opening set, the first he had taken off Nadal in 13 matches.
Wawrinka broke Nadal in the opening game of the second set and then held serve to take a 2-0 lead. Nadal then seemed to be caught by pain and clutched at his back through the next game.
"It's really not the way you want to win a tennis match, but in a Grand Slam final I'll take it," said Wawrinka.
Nadal managed to hold serve to trail 1-2 and then quickly left for a medical timeout. He returned after six minutes but his movement was obviously restricted.
Wawrinka went on to a 4-1 lead as Nadal double-faulted repeatedly and struggled to reach wild balls.
Though Nadal fought to hold serve to trail 2-5, Wawrinka went on to serve out the set with an ace.
Nadal stunned Warinka with an early break in the third set and then saved two break points to hold his serve.
As Nadal rallied, Wawrinka sunk, spraying shots all over the court. Nadal began gunning for the lines, marching to a 5-2 lead.
Wawrinka had a chance to break back but could only concede as he smashed a forehand into the net.
The Swiss regained his concentration and started the fourth set in a positive manner. Unable to convert two break points in the first game, Wawrinka eventually clinched a 4-2 lead with a forehand winner.
Though Nadal immediately bounced back with a break to love, Wawrinka then hit three straight groundstroke winners, breaking Nadal for a 5-3 lead.
Wawrinka hit a forehand winner down the line to end the two-hour and 22-minute encounter and became the second Swiss man to win a Grand Slam singles title.
"Rafa, I'm really sorry for you, I hope your back is going to be fine, you're a really great guy, good friend and really amazing champion," said an emotional Wawrinka in his victory speech.
"For me it's the best Grand Slam ever. I'm enjoying very much to play here," the Swiss said. "But in one year a lot happened. I still don't know if I'm dreaming or not but we'll see tomorrow morning."
