NEW YORK, September 12, 2016

Stan Wawrinka cliamed his first US Open title with a 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 victory over defending champion Novak Djokovic in the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday.

Djokovic set the tone early, gaining a break in the third game and took the opening set in the tie-break. The Swiss showed his mettle in the following, broke the Serb early in the second third and fourth set. Wawrinka fired 46 winners, including three aces, while saving an impressive 14 of 17 break points to prevail in three hours and 55 minutes.

“Today I was trying to stay with him,” Wawrinka told. “I was trying to be tough with myself, trying not to show anything, not to show any pain, not to show any cramps, not to show anything. I was suffering on the court, but I’m happy and proud with what I have achieved today.

“There is no secret. If you want to beat the No. 1 player in the world, you have to give everything. You have to accept to suffer and you have almost to enjoy to suffer. Because I think this Grand Slam was the most painful, physically and mentally that I ever played.”

Champ 🏆 #proud @usopen pic.twitter.com/aggcxynG61

— Donna (@DonnaVekic) 12. September 2016

Wawrinka moved to 3-0 in Grand Slam finals and extending his impressive win streak in tour-level finals to 11 straight. All three major title runs have included wins over the World No. 1 in the title match, having previously defeated Rafael Nadal for the 2014 Australian Open crown and Djokovic in the Roland Garros final last year.

Djokovic acknowledged the defeat. “He was the better player. He was tougher mentally,” the world No. 1 told. “He knew what to do. And I was just unlucky in some moments. And that’s it.”