By Chris Oddo | Sunday, April 20, 2014

 

Stan Wawrinka came from a set down to defeat Roger Federer in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2.

Photo Source: Julian Finney/ Getty

Stan Wawrinka ended an 11-match losing streak against Roger Federer in fabulous fashion on Sunday, coming back from a set down to defeat the 17-time Grand Slam champion, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final. The victory gives the 29-year-old Wawrinka his first career Masters 1000 title.

Video: Despite Loss in Final, Federer Still Very Happy for Buddy Wawrinka

"It's always special to play Roger," Wawrinka said after the match. "We know it's always a strange match, especially being in the final here. He's my best friend on the tour."

Wawrinka bounced back from losing a scratchy first set to take a tense tiebreaker in the middle set by the strength of a single mini-break.

In the decider an energized Wawrinka stormed Federer, racing out to a 4-0 double-break lead before serving out the title in two hours and 13 minutes. Wawrinka, who committed 17 unforced errors against only 11 winners in the first set, finished with 33 winners and only 34 unforced for the match.

Though he had his streak of 29 games without surrendering a service break snapped in the first set, Wawrinka saved the only break point he faced in the final two sets, as he continued to pressure Federer with his beastly baseline game.

"It was few little changes to take the advantage," Wawrinka said. "I started to play more aggressive, trying to push him more. When you win a match like this, it's only one or two points, especially in the tie-break."

Wawrinka is now 6-0 on the season against the ATP's top 10, and more remarkably, Wawrinka is 3-0 against Federer, Djokovic and Nadal in 2014. Prior to this season, Wawrinka was 3-40 against the trio.

"I was serving big and being really aggressive," Wawrinka said of his late surge. "Then I took the advantage at the beginning of the third set. I saw that he was a little bit tired. Me, I was playing better and better, especially moving better."

The victory is Wawrinka's second against Federer in 15 career matches, and strangely, both of them have come in Monte-Carlo. Wawrinka becomes the ATP's first player to win three titles in 2014 with the win, and he retains the No. 3 ranking as well.

"Clearly it would have been nice to win that second set tie-break," Federer told the press after the match. "I didn't necessarily play a bad one, but also at the same time I didn't quite ever get into the lead where things went my way."

Still, Federer seemed pleased to reach his 36th career Masters 1000 final in the Principality, even if the final didn't go his way. He also expressed pleasure in the fact that his good friend Wawrinka continues to perform at his peak.

"Of course, I'm very happy for Stan," Federer said. "It's a huge win for him after winning his first Grand Slam this year, also to win his first Masters 1000. To take the opportunities when they're there, that's key in a tennis player's career. So I'm very happy for him."