Stan Wawrinka defeated Novak Djokovic 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 to win the US Open Men’s singles title. In a match with a number of twists and turns, the native of Switzerland won his third major title.

Djokovic came into the final seemingly well rested after an unusually high number of retirements and a walkover. He had only logged 9 hours of court time as he entered the championship match.  Meanwhile, Wawrinka had been pushed to at least 4 sets in his last four matches.

The top-seed took little time gaining momentum in the first set. He held serve quickly as tremendous defense turned to precision offense to set up an early break of service. Djokovic exhibited a sharp, precise skillset while Wawrinka struggled to find his rhythm. But late in the set, the Swiss finally began to heat up and found a groove, fighting off two set points. He would carry that momentum into the following game where he broke Djokovic to even the set.

With neither player making inroads into their opponent’s serve, a tiebreak would decide the set. There, Wawrinka took one of the points of the tournament behind tremendous defense that finished with a volley. However, he could not muster another point in the breaker as Djokovic won the first set.

In the second set, Wawrinka struck first, taking a 3-1 advantage after an unsteady service game by the world no. 1. It appeared that Djokovic would bounce right back, as he earned three break point opportunities. But Wawrinka dug deep and summoned up a handful of high-quality groundstrokes to fend off the attack and would consolidate the service break. However, as expected, Djokovic would not make it easy for the Swiss as he pushed back to regain his lost serve. But in a set of ebbs and flows, Wawrinka would break once again as Djokovic could not hold serve to stay in the set.

Wawrinka parlayed his momentum into the third set taking the first three games as the intensity began to rise. And with New York crowd now on the edge of their seats, both players struck tremendous shots in the duel.  Then, towards the middle of the set, the Serb shifted momentum again taking a game off of the Wawrinka serve. But the scenario became much like the second set as Djokovic needed to hold serve to stay in the set. And again, after a grueling game and with some signs of fatigue starting to show, Djokovic was unsuccessful.

Later, in an unexpected twist, Djokovic came up lame serving at 0-1 in the fourth set. He began to favor his leg and immediately lost his serve. Wawrinka would consolidate it to go to 3-0. With limited movement and on the ropes, Djokovic was able to hold serve and then called for the trainer which was allowed by the chair umpire. The break did not come without controversy as Wawrinka questioned the timing, which came before his serve. Nonetheless, after six minutes, play resumed.

 And despite a valiant effort by the 12-time major champion, Wawrinka held firm and took the set and the match.

Afterward, an emotional Wawrinka tried to put the experience into words. “I don’t know what’s happening right now. Novak, you’re a great champion,” he said. “We know each other since many, many years. I had the chance to practice with him and play him in big matches. This is amazing. I came here not expecting to win it, but I was trying to win every match. I am completely empty. I had to bring everything today.”

Djokovic could do nothing but congratulate the champion. “Congratulations Stan. You were the more courageous player in the decisive moment and you deserved to win this title,” he said. “He was the better player, tougher mentally. It was a fantastic couple of weeks for me. I didn’t know if I should come a few weeks before because I suffered physically.”

The world no. 1 was only able to convert on only 3 out of 17 break point opportunities while Wawrinka broke 6 times, twice while Djokovic was serving to stay in the set. Meanwhile, Wawrinka fired 46 winners in a match that lasted 3 hours, 57 minutes.

With the conclusion of the final, the grand slam season ends for 2016. The first major of 2017 is in Melbourne, Australia in January.