Wawrinka stuns injured Nadal to win Australian Open

MELBOURNE: Switzerland´s Stanislas Wawrinka claimed his first Grand Slam title in dramatic fashion on Sunday when he upset injury-troubled world number one Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final.

The eighth seed roared through the first two sets and overcame the distraction of a back injury to Nadal, and then the loss of the third set, to take it 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours 21 minutes.

Nadal, who was chasing his 14th major title, looked as if he might pull out with the back injury but he fought back to take the third set and force the match into a fourth set.

It was a stunning result for Wawrinka, who had never taken a set off Nadal in their 12 previous meetings and won his first Slam title at his 36th attempt, the second longest wait on record.

Wawrinka who lost in five sets to Novak Djokovic in last year´s fourth round also shocked world number two Djokovic in the quarter-finals.

Wawrinka´s win was a rare shock at the top of men´s tennis after several years of dominance by the game´s top four players. The last outsider to win was Juan Martin del Potro at the 2009 US Open.

Nadal has had injury problems in the past in Melbourne. He missed the 2006 and 2013 editions, had to retire injured in 2010 and was hit by a muscle strain during his 2011 defeat to David Ferrer.

Wawrinka became the first man to defeat the top two seeds at a Grand Slam since Sergi Bruguera at the 1993 French Open.

Despite playing his first major final, he began nervelessly and after holding his opening two service games he made the first move, breaking Nadal in the fourth game. (AFP)