Stan Wawrinka was a happy player for the first few months of the 2014 season. The Swiss won his first major title at the Australian Open and then qualified for a third final, at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000.
His previous finals were played at the 2008 Rome Masters 1000 against Novak Djokovic and the 2013 Madrid Open against Rafael Nadal, both of which were lost to his opponents.
In Monte Carlo, Stan had to meet the player from the remaining “Big 3” during a third final played on clay. He was scheduled to face his compatriot Roger Federer and ultimately won the challenge 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, in two hours and 14 minutes.
In this way Wawrinka became Masters 1000 champion for the first time and was able to get his second win in 15 games over Roger. The more experienced Swiss had eliminated the injured Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, to qualify for the Monte Carlo final for the fourth time in his career, his first title match in the Principality since 2008.
Despite Federer’s good play in sets 1 and 2, Roger couldn’t go all the way. Thus, Federer had to leave the principality empty-handed, having lost ground in the decider to see Wawrinka win his first ATP premium series crown.
In fact, Stan has won 8 points more than Roger and has been broken twice in just three chances offered to his rival. On the other hand, he broke Federer 3 times out of 7 chances, before taking the lead in the deciding set and crossing the finish line first.
The Swiss youngster also managed his shots well to get the same number of winners and unforced errors. At the same time, Roger committed roughly twice as many fouls as game winners, causing him to fall behind Stan in mid-range and longer rallies.
Former professional José Luis Clerc spoke about Roger Federer
Former Argentine tennis player José Luis Clerc says that Rafael Nadal will end the GOAT debate if he manages to win Roland Garros this year.
The Argentine, a former World No. 4, went so far as to say that Nadal is on the cusp of tennis immortality, while Roger Federer has already won his last major title.
“If Nadal wins Roland Garros (2022 edition), he will be the greatest of all time. The one I don’t think he’ll win another grand slam for is Roger. Those of us who love the sport want Federer to be forever, but he is not
People tell me ‘Oh, Roger is the best’, but in my opinion, whoever wins the most Grand Slam titles will be the greatest in history,” Clerc explained.
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