Best photos from Stanislas Wawrinka's Australian Open victory
Only Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and now Stanislas Wawrinka have beaten Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam final. (Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Stanislas Wawrinka became just the third man to beat Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam final, snapping his 12-match losing streak to the Spaniard to win 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the Australian Open men's final. Wawrinka will rise to No. 3 on Monday, taking over the position as the Swiss No. 1 from Roger Federer after becoming the first man since Juan Martin del Potro to snag a Slam title from the ATP's Big Four. Nadal said after the match that he felt back pain during his pre-match warm up and the injury grew worse as the match progressed.
"[This] is not the moment to talk a lot about the back," Nadal said, shutting down questions about the extent of the injury. "It's Stan's day, not my day. As I say before, I try my best and was not possible for me today. I'm obviously disappointed and very sad about what happened. But that's life, that's sport."
Wawrinka was still in shock after the win and admitted that he would need time to process just what he's done. "There's a big chance I get drunk tonight," he said after the match. Well if there was ever a time to do it, it would be after your first Slam win.
Here are some of our favorite photos from the men's final:
You jump, I stretch. (Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
Nadal's bad Australian luck continues. This is the fifth time in the last nine years Nadal has suffered an injury in Melbourne. (GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images)
Brian Teacher was the last No. 8 seed to win the Australian Open, doing so in 1980. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
If Nadal had won the title he would have matched Pete Sampras' 14 Slam titles. (Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
"Did Roger call?" Eventually he did. (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Nadal couldn't hide his disappointment. (Graham Denholm/Getty Images)
These two are good friends, and Wawrinka comforted Nadal while the two waited for the trophy ceremony. (Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Consider Wawrinka an amped up Federer. Bigger serve, bigger backhand, and that made all the difference against Nadal. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)
Frustration. Nadal was trying to become the first man in the Open Era to win all four Slams at least twice. (SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)
