Stan Wawrinka's Big-Match Ability Makes Him the Ultimate Grand Slam Wild Card

There have been plenty of one-Slam winners, but Stan Wawrinka has proven that his 2014 Australian Open title was no fluke. Nerves of steel or rugged coolness? However tennis fans wish to explain his French Open virtuoso, he has certainly established himself as the most dangerous player in tennis, a big-match champion who is unafraid to outhit the best player in tennis.

Wawrinka’s unique evolution the past few years has created a star. He’s an original copy, reinventing himself as the ultimate wild card. Maybe there’s a resemblance to the power and big-hitting of talented Marat Safin (who clubbed aging Pete Sampras at the 2000 U.S. Open final and who outlasted prime Roger Federer at the 2005 Australian Open semifinals), but that’s too simplistic. Safin was often mercurial and unfocused, burned out by age 25.

Rather, Wawrinka has taken the unprecedented path to becoming a tennis force at age 29-30. He’s fit, strong and ready to throw his training and experience into new achievements. This was acutely revealed with his first major win at Melbourne when he physically overpowered the great Rafael Nadal whose own body was breaking down.

Defeating Novak Djokovic was not completely shocking. He’s pushed the Serbian to the limits in five enormous five-set matches since Australia 2013. Maybe the Roland Garros faithful expected to taste a French Open concerto from the World No. 1, but they found themselves roused to Wawrinka’s Led Zeppelin tennis. There was smashing, bashing and mind-splitting intensity.

Francois Mori/Associated Press

How has Wawrinka channeled his inconstant tennis moods into the ultimate wild card? It’s more that he has accepted how he must play to his strengths and how he must respond through the ups and downs of games, sets and matches.

For instance, fellow star Andy Murray has carved out his career with much greater consistency, sounder strokes, more caution and fierce defensive scrapping. He trusts playing the percentages and hopes that tenacity and patience break through to defeat his more esteemed rivals, Roger Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.

Wawrinka is fully on board with more risk-reward tennis. He is coach Magnus Norman’s high-ocatane machine, prone to regular breakdowns and repairs but ever lethal when the heat and importance of a match are magnified.

It’s a mentality more than anything, perhaps the most important ingredient of Norman’s blueprint. Wawrinka has an ironclad, bull-headed but very clear design on what he needs to do. Belief, mentality and now grand success. Wawrinka insists he is not at the level of the Big Four (Wawrinka wants to include Murray into the more critically acclaimed Big Three), but he said he can beat them, according to ESPN:

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I'm not as good as they are, I mean the big four, but I'm quite good enough to win two grand slam tournaments. I can beat them in major tournaments - in a semi-final, in a final - but once again, the big four will always be the big four.

I don't want to be in comparison with them. I want to make progress and strides. I want to beat them. That's all. It is as simple as that.

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Transforming himself into a big-match contender has been far from simple but there’s no question that right now Djokovic would rather face Federer, Nadal or Murray than lace ‘em up for another go ‘round with Wawrinka. Djokovic will beat his famous rivals when he plays with his usually consistent greatness. Against Wawrinka, he is still the solid favorite, but he can be outpunched if the Swiss is playing like the French Open champion he is.

Christophe Ena/Associated Press

Wawrinka has not only reshaped his own career, but he has shown the ATP tour that talented players need to keep punching in their time cards for good things to happen. They can look to Wawrinka’s toughness in the big moments, his ability to shrug aside pressure and his fearlessness. Nevertheless, these are qualities that very few players can develop into a championship level. They are special traits attributable to Wawrinka's competitive spirit.

Ironman Stan has earned this reputation as a clutch performer, and for the near future will be regarded with respect and nervousness by other top players. Better to face him early than late, something we suggested in ranking Wawrinka’s chances before the French Open:

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IF Wawrinka is steady and hot, watch out. He has the potential to win it all. He welcomes battles against the very best stars and, unlike (Tomas) Berdych, raises his game rather than shrinks. He has the maturity, will, strength and past success for his pedigree, but he must be at his best.

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If not everyone has received the memo, the ATP locker room will feel different when Wawrinka picks up his bag for another big match. We are never sure when that next appointment will be, but when the curtains come up, the other stars will need to play with their boldest, best tennis.

Wawrinka might even get that third major before Murray. Who would have thought?