Stan Wawrinka bowed out sore, sad and a semi-final loser at the Australian Open on Thursday but consoled himself that it was “the greatest player ever” who pushed him out the door after a classic five-set duel.
Two sets down and facing a stinging defeat by compatriot and friend Roger Federer, fourth seed Wawrinka roared back into the match in a furious assault of power hitting before surrendering 7-5 6-3 1-6 4-6 6-3 under the lights at Rod Laver Arena.
The four-time Australian Open champion becomes the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam final since Australia’s Ken Rosewall (39 years 310 days) at the 1974 US Open.
In an enthralling contest, Federer won the opening two sets before Wawrinka clawed back to take the semi-final into a fifth, only for Federer to prevail with a service break in the sixth game.
And Wawrinka, the joker he is on social media, reacted to the defeat with this one epic tweet.
For those who don’t follow Wawrinka on Twitter (you really should be), he is a man who is very generous with his use of emojis. Take a look.
He might have lost the match on Thursday, but he sure knows how to win the internet.