PARIS—The allure of Stan Wawrinka, who stunned top-seed Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s French Open final, is the allure of the unknown.  Some days Wawrinka hits tennis balls as beautifully as anyone in the sport. Other days he is a mess. He makes weekend hackers believe anything is possible, and makes the game’s best players fear that everything could go wrong. He is the sport’s most dangerous man.  Wawrinka has never been more deadly than he was as he beat Djokovic, the top-ranked player in the world, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. His victory denied Djokovic the only major title missing from his collection.  Wawrinka now has two major titles—and two remarkable upsets. In Australia last year, he beat top-seeded Rafael Nadal in the final. Wawrinka was seeded eighth, just as he was at this year’s French Open. Wawrinka now has a 2-17 record against players ranked No. 1 in the world—both wins coming in Grand Slam finals. His coach, Magnus Norman, was both surprised and not surprised by his player’s achievement.  “He’ s a very interesting player to watch, because you never know what to expect,” Norman said. “This week we saw the greatness of Stan, but next week it could be something else.”  Wawrinka’s greatness in the final was often difficult to fathom. He hit the ball so hard, and so accurately, that his shots looked like something out of a Hollywood special-effects lab. There were forehands down the line, precision overheads and backhands galore. Wawrinka hit one backhand winner around the net post.  “I think I played amazing today,” Wawrinka said. “I was always going for my shot, always going for the right play.”  With every blow, Djokovic looked stunned. He turned to his box, where his coaches, Boris Becker and Marian Vajda, looked on. He shook his head. He yelled. At the end of the second set, he smashed his racket until it broke.  Djokovic has played the French Open 11 times and reached three finals. He lost to Rafael Nadal in two finals but arrived in Paris this year as the favorite. He showed why when he routed the nine-time champion Nadal in the quarterfinals.  “I tried my best,” Djokovic said. “It wasn’t to be.”  If Djokovic had won, he would have become the eighth man in tennis history to win each of the four Grand Slam tournaments at least once. He also would have been the first man since Jim Courier, in 1992, to win the first two majors of the season. Rod Laver was the last man to win all four major tournaments in a year, in 1969.  The fans at Court Philippe Chatrier gave Djokovic an extended ovation during the trophy ceremony. Djokovic smiled, waved and got teary-eyed.  “This is something that definitely gives me even more motivation to come back and keep on trying,” Djokovic said. “They are truly respectful fans, and I thank them very much, very much for these emotions I felt on the court.”  Wawrinka’s strategy was simple: Be aggressive. “We knew that Novak was going to play well,” Norman said. “So you have to go and get the match and you have to risk a little bit.”  Wawrinka hit 60 winners in the match, twice as many as Djokovic. Yet Wawrinka only made four more unforced errors, 45 to 41.  Djokovic looked like he might make a comeback when he broke serve and took a 3-0 lead in the fourth set. But Wawrinka kept swinging freely and didn’t fade. He leveled the set at 3-3 and escaped from a 0-40 deficit to hold serve for 4-4. Wawrinka broke Djokovic’s serve again and served out the match. He sealed his victory with one last backhand winner down the line.  It wasn’t clear that Wawrinka would ever contend for a title here, despite a strong clay pedigree that included a French Open junior title in 2003. At last year’s French Open, Wawrinka arrived as a Grand Slam singles champion with high hopes. He lost in the first round. Norman and Wawrinka’s agent, Lawrence Frankopan, left Wawrinka to himself and went off to commiserate.  “We had [a] burger at McDonald’s at a 11 p.m.,” Norman said.  It didn’t take long for Wawrinka to bounce back. He reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Last fall, he helped Switzerland win its first Davis Cup title. At this year’s Australian Open, he lost to Djokovic in five sets in the semifinals. It was their fourth consecutive five-set match at a Grand Slam tournament.  Earlier this spring, Wawrinka split up with his wife for a second time (they have a 5-year-old daughter). Their disagreements became public and Wawrinka looked helpless on the court. He lost his second match in Monte Carlo, where he was the defending champion, and in Madrid.  “I wasn’t in good shape after Monaco,” Wawrinka said. “It was a tough, tough moment for me. To say that now I won the French Open, it’s something completely crazy.”  Wawrinka did make one faux pas in Paris: his plaid tennis shorts. They look like boxers and became a running joke among commentators and fans throughout the tournament. Wawrinka brought a pair to his postmatch press conference and draped them over the table where he sat. He said he would donate them to the Roland Garros museum. And he doesn’t mind the pattern.  “I quite like it,” Wawrinka said. “Apparently I’m the only one.”
Stan Wawrinka defeated world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in four sets for the French Open men’s title on Sunday, leaving Djokovic still short of the career Grand Slam.