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Stanislas Wawrinka 'surprised' by crowd's hostility towards Rafael Nadal

January 27, 2014 - 3:57PM Linda Pearce Sports writer for The Age View more articles from Linda Pearce Follow Linda on Tw itter Email Linda 392 reading now Read later

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Stanislas Wawrinka admits he was surprised by the Melbourne Park crowd's hostility towards Rafael Nadal for taking an off-court medical timeout while trailing in Sunday night's Australian Open final, with the Spaniard's return from treatment for a back injury greeted by a loud chorus of boos. ''Yeah, I think it was not really nice from the crowd, because we all know Rafa is an amazing champion, he's a great guy, he's a really good friend and we all know that he always try, he always fight, and that if he's injured he's always still trying,'' Wawrinka said. ''It was tough for him because it was real injury, and I really hope it's not too bad.'' During the seven-minute break at 2-1 in the second set, an agitated Wawrinka had repeatedly challenged chair umpire Carlos Ramos to provide him with the specifics of the injury, claiming that disclosure was required by the rules. Ramos disagreed.

''I just wanted to know what was the problem of Rafa, because before he ask the physio for me, he was checking his feet. I didn't know really what was the problem,'' said the first-time major winner. ''Normally when the physio is coming on the court, the umpire always say the opponent why he's coming. He didn't want to tell me, so I get pissed [off].'' But not with Nadal, Wawrinka insisted, reiterating his respect for the injury-prone world No.1. ''He's always a really fair player. He always tries his best. He is always fighting. The problem for me, it was not that he was taking a physio, that he left the court. I just wanted to know why, what was this problem, just to know for the rest of the match. But, yeah, was quite strange that the crowd start to boo him. ''It was tough for me also because it's not really the way you want to win the match when you're a tennis player, when you're a competitor, you always want to have a big fight, and I was playing my best game during one set and one break, so I took that and then I just try to stay focus and try to win the match and to take it, because maybe it's one chance in one life to play a final so it was important to take that trophy.'' And thus deny Nadal a 14th major. Equal second with Pete Sampras behind Roger Federer on the all-time list, the 27-year-old said he first felt a twinge in his lower back during the warm-up, and was more troubled as the 37-minute first set went on. The key moment came on serve early in the second, ''in a bad movement, is very stiff, very bad''.
Stanislas Wawrinka. Photo: Joe Armao

But the spectators? Only good feelings, apparently. ''The crowd was great with me in the whole weeks, no?'' said Nadal, who received an overwhelmingly about-face ovation during the presentation ceremony. ''Sometimes is tough for the crowd to understand. The crowd, only thing wants to do is enjoy great match. They paid ticket to watch the best match possible, and I was not able to offer that to them for moments. ''I wanted to try my best until the end. But I can understand very well the reaction. They understand later that I was bad. I was trying all what I can try on the court with that situation. The crowd was great with me during both weeks. Support has been enormous, more than ever. I feel very, very proud about they treat [me], how the crowd is supporting me here. You never will heard me talk badly about the crowd here.''

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