Melbourne, Australia: After letting the distraction of Rafael Nadal's painful back problems cost him a set, Stan Wawrinka regained his composure to win his first Grand Slam title with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory Sunday in the Australian Open final.
The 28-year-old Swiss player had never taken a set off Nadal in 12 previous meetings, but attacked from the start against the 13-time major winner.
"It's really not the way you want to win a tennis match, but in a Grand Slam final I'll take it," Wawrinka said.
Nadal appeared to be on the verge of retiring in the second set, when he hurt his back and needed a medical time out, but he refused to quit.
The left-handed Spaniard was a hot favorite to win the title and become the first man to win each of the four Grand Slam tournaments twice in the Open era -- instead, his injury curse struck again in Australia. It remains the only major he's hasn't won at least two times.
"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," Wawrinka said as he accepted his first major trophy. "Last year I had a crazy match, I lost it. I was crying a lot after the match. But in one year a lot happened -- I still don't know if I'm dreaming or not but we'll see tomorrow morning."
Warwinka lost in five sets to Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of the 2013 Australian Open, in the longest Grand Slam match of the season. Djokovic went on to win his third consecutive title at Melbourne Park, and then beat Wawrinka again in five sets in the U.S. Open semifinals.
But Wawrinka avenged those losses this time, beating Djokovic in the quarterfinals and then beating seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych in the semis.
