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MELBOURNE: Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland (left) holds the trophy with runner-up Rafael Nadal of Spain after his win in the men’s singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship. — AP Wawrinka stuns injured Nadal

Wins Australian Open Heavyweights to collide MELBOURNE: Stanislas Wawrinka held firm in a match of high drama to defeat an leaving the centre court crowd stunned. Wawrinka stumbled when serving for the injured Rafa Nadal 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-3 and win his maiden grand slam title at the set to fall behind 0-40 but saved them all, as Nadal’s returning went awry, and took in FA Cup fifth round Australian Open yesterday. the set with a crosscourt ace. The eighth seed roared to a two-set lead after top seed Nadal struggled with an In all his previous 12 meetings against Nadal, Wawrinka had never won a set. LONDON: Chelsea were paired with go,” he said. apparent back injury sustained early in the second set, but the Swiss was left Breaking that jinx propelled him on. He broke Nadal in the first game of the sec- Premier League title rivals Manchester Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-0 when the stunned as his opponent suddenly revived in the third at Rod Laver Arena. Though ond to march to a 2-0 lead before the Spaniard suddenly doubled over in pain. He City and Arsenal were pitted against sides last met in November and the restricted in his movement, Nadal fought back into the match with a barrage of grimaced after a first serve and immediately signalled for a trainer and winced Liverpool in an explosive FA Cup fifth- teams are due to face off again at Anfield clean hitting, completely throwing the Swiss off his game who surrendered the again after belting a forehand into the net from the baseline. round draw yesterday. in the league a week before their third set in a hail of unforced errors. Wawrinka captured a break in the fourth set, Nadal successfully held serve to trail 2-1 but quickly left the court for a medical Having managed to avoid each other encounter in the cup at the Emirates surrendered it with a terrible service game, but recovered again to earn a chance time out, leaving Wawrinka to argue with the chair umpire about the lack of disclo- in the competition’s opening rounds, the Stadium. to serve for the match. sure over the injury. Nadal re-emerged after six minutes amid some jeers from the top flight’s four leading clubs will now There were two other all-Premier He stayed cool when it counted, serving strongly and sealing the win with an Rod Laver Arena crowd but his movement was clearly restricted and he was come together in the last 16 on the week- League ties in the draw, with League Cup imperious forehand rocketing down the line. unable to generate any pace on his serve. end of February 15-16. finalists Sunderland drawn to face A relieved Wawrinka raised his hands in the air in celebration and after shaking Wawrinka simply went about his business, marching to a 4-1 lead as Nadal Chelsea’s trip to the Etihad Stadium Southampton and Everton manager hands with a gloomy Nadal, went to console the Spaniard at his chair. double-faulted repeatedly and struggled to reach wide balls. will follow hot on the heels of their away Roberto Martinez handed a tie against “First, Rafa, I’m really sorry for you, I hope your back is okay, you are a great Nadal had more treatment on his back from a physio at the change of ends, game at City a week on Monday, but the his former club Swansea City. friend and a great champion,” Wawrinka said at the trophy ceremony. then underlined his fighting spirit by holding serve to trail 5-2, but Wawrinka went London club’s manager Jose Mourinho Holders Wigan Athletic, meanwhile, “You did a remarkable comeback last year. For me it’s the best grand slam ever. on to serve out the set with an ace. Whether it was painkillers or just pure grit, took the draw in his stride. will visit Cardiff City after eliminating “Right now I still don’t know if I’m dreaming. I guess I’ll find out in the morning.” Nadal showed signs of a revival in the third set as he saved two break points before “No problem. If you want to be the Crystal Palace on Saturday. Draw for the The 2009 champion Nadal shed tears at the trophy ceremony, overcome by the holding serve with a barrage of sweetly-struck forehands. best, you have to play against the best,” fifth round of the English FA Cup, made at emotion of a roller-coaster match. “First thing I want to say, is thanks to Stan, we A searing forehand winner down the line gave Nadal two break points and he told ITV after his side’s 1-0 success at Wembley Stadium yesterday (ties to be have a great relationship and you really deserve it today, so many congratulations astonishingly, the Spaniard broke a flat-footed Wawrinka when the Swiss bunted a home to Stoke City in the fourth round played the weekend of February 15-16): and all the best. “To all the crowd, it’s been an emotional two weeks sorry to finish bloodless forehand into the net. this way, I tried very, very hard. “Last year was a tough when I wasn’t able to play As Nadal rallied, his eighth-seeded opponent sunk, spraying shots all over the yesterday. here, thanks for your support, see you next year.” court with his concentration clearly affected by the sudden momentum switch. “So it’s good for us-good experience, Manchester City v Chelsea The triumph capped a remarkable fortnight for Wawrinka who became the first Still restricted in his movements, Nadal began gunning for the lines and his good game, big game, good.” Chelsea Sheffield United or Fulham v Nottingham man in 21 years to beat the top two seeds at a grand slam since Sergi Bruguera stand-and-deliver approach saw him march to a 5-2 lead. and City are considered the biggest chal- Forest or Preston North End pulled off the feat at the French Open in 1993. Five days after ending second seed With Nadal serving for the set at 5-3, Wawrinka had a chance to break back but lengers to current league leaders Arsenal v Liverpool Novak Djokovic’s three-year reign at Melbourne Park, Wawrinka denied a dis- was unable to flush the tension out and conceded the set when he smashed a Arsenal, but Mourinho suggested that Brighton and Hove Albion v Hull City traught Nadal from becoming only the third man to have won all four majors at forehand into the net. As Nadal battled with his body, Wawrinka continued to bat- Manuel Pellegrini’s side would approach Cardiff City v Wigan Athletic least twice. Though Nadal’s injury clearly affected his game, Wawrinka had been tle with his mind as he broke Nadal in the final set and then gave it straight back. the tie as favorites. “One team is an end- Sheffield Wednesday v Charlton Athletic well on top of their match early on and surged 3-1 clear in the first set after an early Amid the doubts, the Swiss’s serve never quite deserted him and it carried him to ed product, the other team is a team that Sunderland v Southampton break. match point before his forehand sealed it to raise thunderous cheers from the ter- needs to improve and has a long way to Everton v Swansea City. — AFP Without a hint of nerves, Wawrinka blasted two aces before holding to lead 4-1, races. — Reuters Chelsea see off Stoke Fulham survive FA Cup scare SHEFFIELD: Fulham survived an FA Cup that was stabbed home by the oppor- LONDON: Oscar helped Chelsea draw a line beneath allowed Oscar to break the deadlock in spectacular scare against third-tier Sheffield United tunistic Porter. Juan Mata’s departure with a fine free-kick in a 1-0 style. yesterday by battling back to secure a 1-1 In reply, Rodallega was denied a penal- win over Stoke City in the FA Cup fourth round yes- Eto’o’s smart turn and shot in the second minute draw at a mud-caked Bramall Lane in the ty after tumbling over a challenge from terday. suggested this would be a long afternoon for Stoke, fourth round. United goalkeeper George Long, while The Brazilian had dislodged Mata from his posi- who were hoping to repeat their Premier League vic- Fulham made 11 changes to their start- Pajtim Kasami shot narrowly wide early in tion as Chelsea’s main playmaker, prompting the tory over the Blues in early December. Spaniard to join Manchester United, and the quality The visitors’ initial response suggested otherwise, ing line-up and League One strugglers the second half. of his goal demonstrated why manager Jose with Peter Crouch heading wide after getting ahead United looked set for a repeat of their Doyle was shown a straight red card in Mourinho rates him so highly. of his marker David Luiz three minutes later. third-round win over Aston Villa after Chris the 52nd minute for kicking out at Chris The Blues failed to add to Oscar’s first-half effort Stoke struggled to put Cech’s replacement Mark Porter gave them a 31st-minute lead. David, but the hosts continued to threat- despite hitting the woodwork twice, although it was Schwarzer under real pressure, but they matched However, the home side had captain en, with Ryan Flynn working Fulham goal- Michael Doyle sent off for an off-the-ball keeper David Stockdale and Jose Baxter a largely comfortable victory, with Stoke rarely Chelsea in the midfield areas for long periods. LONDON: Chelsea’s Demba Ba (right) fights incident early in the second period and firing wide. Nigel Clough’s side then had a threatening to score an equaliser and force a replay. Chelsea, though, looked capable of capitalising for the ball with Stoke City’s captain Ryan Hugo Rodallega equalised with 15 min- very strong penalty claim turned down Chelsea’s reward is a mouthwatering fifth round trip on any Stoke error and should have taken the lead Shawcross (left) during an English FA Cup 4th utes remaining to send the tie to a replay. after Flynn was caught by a clumsy chal- to Premier League rivals Manchester City. from a breakaway after Marco Arnautovic gave the round soccer match. — AP Mourinho opted to rest a number of senior play- ball away carelessly inside the home half. Heavy rain in northern England made for a lenge from visiting captain Aaron Hughes. ers including John Terry and Petr Cech, but his deci- Then, when Erik Pieters was penalised for a tackle Begovic was back in the side after a six-game muddy, sapping playing surface and the United manager Clough was incensed sion to include Samuel Eto’o in his starting line-up from behind on Eto’o, Oscar produced a memorable absence with a broken finger, but no blame could be game only went ahead after a late pitch by referee Andre Marriner’s refusal to raised eyebrows. free-kick that gave Mourinho’s side a 27th-minute laid at his door. Having finally broken through Stoke’s inspection. award a spot-kick and his mood will have The forward scored a hat-trick in the 3-1 victory lead. Stoke complained angrily that the decision to defence, Chelsea took control of the remainder of There was an early blow for the visitors darkened moments later when Rodallega over Manchester United seven days previously, but penalise Pieters was harsh and television replays sug- the first half, although Stephen Ireland did provide a when John Arne Riise had to go off with drilled in an equaliser from the edge of the manager had been expected to rest Eto’o and gested they had a point. scare when he fired a left-foot shot into the side-net- an apparent hamstring injury and with the area. Fulham threatened to complete hand Demba Ba a rare start. Their sense of injustice was fuelled when Oscar ting. Oscar should have added a second goal when half an hour played, United went ahead. the comeback with seven minutes However, Eto’o wasted little time justifying lifted the free-kick over the wall and into the top-left he broke into Begovic’s area and beat the goalkeeper Young centre-back Harry Maguire remaining, but Philippe Senderos saw his Mourinho’s decision, quickly impressing himself on corner, bending so much that it wrong-footed Stoke with a powerful shot that cannoned to safety off the made an authoritative burst into the glancing header bounce back off the the Stoke back-line and drawing the foul that goalkeeper Asmir Begovic. upright. — AFP Fulham box before driving in a low cross crossbar. — AFP