5 reasons behind Stan Wawrinka's defeat of Novak Djokovic in the French Open final

Stan Wawrinka plays a backhand in his win over Novak Djokovic in the French Open final

Novak Djokovic struggling against Stan Wawrinka is nothing new. At the 2013 Australian Open, the 2013 US Open, the 2014 Australian Open as well as the 2015 Australian Open, the Swiss took the current World No. 1 to five sets. Djokovic even lost in the 2014 Australian Open, and Wawrinka eventually went on to win his first Grand Slam title by defeating a physically troubled Rafael Nadal in the final.

But how can Wawrinka, with seemingly inferior physical and defensive capabilities than Djokovic, defeat him? The reasons can be seen if we look into the intricate details of the games of Wawrinka and Djokovic.

1. Wawrinka's serve is difficult to break. It is hard, penetrating, accurate and has bailed him out from many tricky situations in the past.

2. Wawrinka uses the backhand slice as a defensive stroke when pushed back into the left corner, on which Djokovic fails to capitalize. That gives the Swiss the opportunity to come back into the point and then hurts Djokovic with his lethal backhand and forehand.

3. Wawrinka has proved through the earlier Grand Slam matches played against Djokovic that he has the capability of hitting the ball with the same intensity even in the finishing stages of a five-set epic.

4. Wawrinka can win backhand vs backhand battles against Djokovic, with his cross court backhand troubling the Serb frequently.

5. Wawrinka is much stronger mentally than he once was. The Swiss has beaten the best in the world in recent times, with his recent big scalp being Rafael Nadal in Rome.

Djokovic needed this title desperately to complete his Career Grand Slam. He had finally overcome Nadal, that too in straight sets, and he must have taken a lot of confidence out of that. But unfortunately for him he couldn’t translate all that confidence into a trophy, as Wawrinka proved a little too good for him.