Wawrinka beats injured Nadal to win Australian Open

Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland celebrates defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain in their men's singles final match at the Australian Open 2014 tennis tournament in Melbourne January 26, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

BREAKING JINX

Though Nadal's injury clearly affected his game, Wawrinka had been well on top of their match early on and surged 3-1 clear in the first set after an early break.

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Without a hint of nerves, Wawrinka blasted two aces before holding to lead 4-1, leaving the centre court crowd stunned.

Wawrinka stumbled when serving for the set to fall behind 0-40 but saved them all, as Nadal's returning went awry, and took the set with a crosscourt ace.

In all his previous 12 meetings against Nadal, Wawrinka had never won a set. Breaking that jinx propelled him on.

He broke Nadal in the first game of the second to march to a 2-0 lead before the Spaniard suddenly doubled over in pain.

He grimaced after a first serve and immediately signalled for a trainer and winced again after belting a forehand into the net from the baseline.

Nadal successfully held serve to trail 2-1 but quickly left the court for a medical time out, leaving Wawrinka to argue with the chair umpire about the lack of disclosure over the injury.

Nadal re-emerged after six minutes amid some jeers from the Rod Laver Arena crowd but his movement was clearly restricted and he was unable to generate any pace on his serve.

Wawrinka simply went about his business, marching to a 4-1 lead as Nadal double-faulted repeatedly and struggled to reach wide balls.

Nadal had more treatment on his back from a physio at the change of ends, then underlined his fighting spirit by holding serve to trail 5-2, but Wawrinka went on to serve out the set with an ace.

Whether it was painkillers or just pure grit, Nadal showed signs of a revival in the third set as he saved two break points before holding serve with a barrage of sweetly-struck forehands.

A searing forehand winner down the line gave Nadal two break points and astonishingly, the Spaniard broke a flat-footed Wawrinka when the Swiss bunted a bloodless forehand into the net.

As Nadal rallied, his eighth-seeded opponent sunk, spraying shots all over the court with his concentration clearly affected by the sudden momentum switch.

Still restricted in his movements, Nadal began gunning for the lines and his stand-and-deliver approach saw him march to a 5-2 lead.

With Nadal serving for the set at 5-3, Wawrinka had a chance to break back but was unable to flush the tension out and conceded the set when he smashed a forehand into the net.

As Nadal battled with his body, Wawrinka continued to battle with his mind as he broke Nadal in the final set and then gave it straight back.

Amid the doubts, the Swiss's serve never quite deserted him and it carried him to match point before his forehand sealed it to raise thunderous cheers from the terraces.