Novak Djokovic survives scare against Stanislas Wawrinka to reach quarters – Australian Open 2013
World number one, Novak Djokovic, showed top notch performance to outclass the 15th seed, Stanislas Wawrinka, in a five-set mouth-watering match at the Australian Open 2013 on Sunday. He recorded a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(5), 12-10 victory against
the Swiss to power into the quarter-finals at this first of the four Grand Slam event taking place in Melbourne, Australia.
Seeded top at this major hard court event, Djokovic unleashed his top class skills to triumph over the Swiss number two in five hours and two minutes marathon. Battling each other for the 16th time, the Serb improved to a 14-2 lifetime in the
FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series against Wawrinka and stayed on course to defend his title.
The Serbian star, who conquered this Grand Slam event last year with five set thrillers against Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, was quoted in a courtside interview after bagging the match,
“It was one of the longest, most interesting, and most exciting matches I played in my career. All the credit to him. I feel sorry that one of us had to lose. He definitely deserved to win. But I'm just thrilled to be able to fight once again up to the last
moment. I'm just really full of joy after this match."
Ranked 17th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Wawrinka stormed into the Rod Laver Arena. After Djokovic held his serve in the opening game, the Swiss unleashed barrage of groundstrokes to go on six-game killing spree and bagged
a breadstick.
The 25-year-old carried his losing ways in the following set and went 2-5 down. However, he gathered his strength afterwards and eventually clinched the set with a 7-5 score line.
Djokovic kept momentum rolling in the proceeding set and got the coveted break in the opening game. Despite losing his edge in the very next game, he remained focused and got the breakthrough in the ninth game. The Serb held his serve again and clicked the
set with a 6-4 win.
The former Top 10 star, Wawrinka lifted his game again in the following set. He smoothly held his serves and despite getting the desiderated break, the Swiss managed to rule in the tie-breaker and pocketed the equaliser with a 7-6(5) win.
The highest ranked player of the tournament re-gained his momentum in the deciding set. He lost his serve in the opening game but quickly recovered. Djokovic held his composure and kept his entire serves until the 22nd game when managed to convert
a break chance, eventually sealing the decider with a 12-10 success.
Wawrinka reflected after bowing out to the top seed:
"I think it's by far my best match I ever played, especially in five sets against the No. 1 player. Especially as I was dealing with myself all the five hours, trying to always find solution... and against him to stay with him.”
Next in queue for Djokovic is fifth seeded Tomas Berdych who breezed past the South African number one, Kevin Anderson, in straight sets to set up this epic clash.
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