After being raised on a Swiss farm, Stan Wawrinka took quite some time to feel as though he belonged in the grandest cities and grandest matches.
“The first years when I came to New York, everything was too big and too much,” he said. “For me it was too difficult here, but bit by bit, it became one of my favorite places.”
The love affair has only deepened after Sunday night’s four-set victory over Novak Djokovic in the United States Open final. The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, amplified by the new roof overhead, was audibly in his corner as he closed out a duel that was much more brutal than the final-set score of 6-3 would indicate.