The current professional tennis decade has been dominated by four well-known names: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray.

Since 2006, these four individuals have won all but three of the twenty-seven Grand Slam Tournaments. Tennis fans around the world have been longing for a new player, a twist in the game that has become so predicable in the past decade. As Roger Federer nears the end of his legendary career, tennis enthusiasts can simply only wonder and argue who will fill his spot as one of the top players in the upcoming tennis generation. Finally, being long anticipated, a new player was added on Jan. 26 to this debate.

As the beaming sun set on the city of Melbourne, Australia, a new name in the world of tennis was crowned as the champion of the Australian Open. Against the odds, Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Rafael Nadal, the current No. 1 player in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour single’s rankings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUYErztTSco

 

Not only did he defeat him, he also dominated his opponent throughout the match. Wawrinka, though only 28 years old, showed poise and confidence throughout the four sets. He was successful through shot placement, forcing the already injury plagued Nadal to move around the court each point.

Despite the incredible performance from Wawrinka, many will argue that the poor performance of Nadal was caused by the injuries in which he suffered throughout the tournament. Whether the injuries of Nadal did in fact play a major role in the match will be argued, but the performance of Wawrinka throughout the tournament cannot be. He defeated the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 7 players in the world throughout the tournament, only playing in a five set match once.

Though tennis fans will have to wait until future tournament performances to see if Wawrinka is the player who will fill the spot of Federer as one of the premier tennis players in this decade, his performance in the Australian Open has the tennis world buzzing once again, something that was much needed for the game.