Wawrinka Outlasts Djokovic in a Marathon Match Stanislas Wawrinka's victory over Novak Djokovic on Tuesday marked another step in his evolution from second fiddle on the Swiss tennis scene to a consistent top 10 player in his own right. MELBOURNE, Australia - Stanislas Wawrinka's forehand sailed wide, and Novak Djokovic screamed. Then he screamed again. Then he screamed once more. He screamed like he won the tournament. He screamed like he won the lottery. He screamed so loud for so long the chair umpire issued a warning. The whole scene felt familiar: Djokovic against Wawrinka in a Grand Slam contest, the match more like a marathon, Wawrinka close but Djokovic beginning to pull ahead. It felt that way until the Australian Open quarterfinal ended with Wawrinka in front, the final score, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7. As the final point concluded, his face - eyes wide, mouth agape - registered the most shock of all. Same movie, different ending. For Djokovic, a horror flick. Wawrinka won their latest duel more than Djokovic, the defending champion here, lost it. Still, the final two points unfolded as if an understudy had subbed in. At 30-30 in the final game, Djokovic slid into a forehand chip shot, one he intended to hit at an extreme cross-court angle. It sailed wide. On match point, Djokovic served-and-volleyed, and Wawrinka, perhaps surprised, popped up a return. Djokovic settled underneath the volley but mis-hit it off the forehand side. He watched as it floated long. Djokovic said he could sense that Wawrinka felt more comfortable in a match of this magnitude. Just like that, the latest installation of Djokovic-Wawrinka ended. It could now officially be called a rivalry, now that Wawrinka had secured a Grand Slam triumph and snapped both Djokovic's 28-match win streak and his streak of 14-straight semifinal appearances in major tournaments. "Now, I'm going to go in the ice bath for a long, long time," Wawrinka said, and as proof, he posted a picture on his Twitter page. The duration of the match should have been anticipated. This was, after all, Djokovic and Wawrinka in a Grand Slam matchup, and that alone pretty much guaranteed it would last five sets. History indicated the five sets would be grueling, the rallies long. Bedtimes would be missed. At stake: a berth in the men's singles semifinals, opposite Tomas Berdych, who made some personal history on Tuesday. By virtue of his victory against David Ferrer, Berdych, seeded seventh, has now advanced at least as far as the semifinals in each Grand Slam tournament but has never won a final. That made for a good story, but it was not Djokovic-Wawrinka, now tennis-speak for "settle in, this is going to take a while." In two singles tournaments now devoid of Americans and Australians, the Serbian player and the Swiss one put on another show. Sometimes, it seemed as if they would play until the morning. During changeovers, Djokovic's new coach, Boris Becker, stood in an attempt to warm up. Fans waved Swiss flags in the stands. At 5-5 in the fifth set, rain delayed the match for a few minutes, and the shade cover on Wawrinka's chair would not go down. That seemed symbolic. Even the chair refused to fold. "Very similar match that we had last year," Djokovic said. But it wasn't to be this time. This is sport. He showed his mental strength, and he deserved to win. Djokovic, left, and Wawrinka embraced after Wawrinka advanced, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7. The clouds began to gather over Rod Laver Arena shortly before night fell, an ominous sign, perhaps. It was windy and cold, and by then the crowd had made clear its allegiance: Australians would back the underdog, Stan, their man on Tuesday under the lights. The two played here in the fourth round last year, and that "marathon" match lasted just over five hours, which was really enough time for the fastest runners to finish two marathons and start an episode of "Homeland." The back of Wawrinka's equipment bag announced his intention for a repeat slugfest. Iron Stan, it read. Indeed. Up to that point, the men's singles draw here had unfolded pretty much as expected, with Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer all in the quarterfinals in one half of the bracket and Djokovic in the other. Those who looked to Murray-Federer on Wednesday, or perhaps Nadal against the winner of that match on Friday, overlooked the player they call "Stanimal." To reach the quarterfinals, Wawrinka needed only 91 games, his lowest-ever total in four victories at a Grand Slam. Such efficiency was not unexpected but rather part of an upward trend for Wawrinka, who reached the semifinals at last year's U.S. Open with upsets of Berdych and Murray, only to fall to Djokovic in - naturally - five long sets. Tuesday marked but another step in Wawrinka's evolution from friend of Roger Federer and second fiddle on the Swiss tennis scene to a consistent top 10 player in his own right. Wawrinka all but handed Djokovic the first set Tuesday, but after that, he swung more freely, took more chances, hit groundstrokes so hard they echoed off his racket. He stung Djokovic with power serves and matched his groundstrokes from the baseline. All the screaming in the world could not prevent another Aussie upset, as Djokovic stumbled the same way that Serena Williams stumbled and Maria Sharapova stumbled. His defeat meant that regardless of who emerged from the other side of the bracket - Nadal? Murray? Federer? - a lesser-known opponent would be waiting in the final. At his news conference, Wawrinka said he started to cramp in the fifth set. He called the victory "one of" the most significant of his career. But when someone asked if he could win the tournament, he said he was not thinking about that yet.