Best photos from Stanislas Wawrinka's Australian Open victory

Only Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and now Stanislas Wawrinka have beaten Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam final. (Michael Dodge/Getty Images) MELBOURNE,
Best photos from Stanislas Wawrinka's Australian Open victory
Best photos from Stanislas Wawrinka's Australian Open victory /

Only Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and now Stanislas Wawrinka have beaten Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam final. (Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

Win or lose, Wawrinka will be the No. 1 Swiss on Monday. (Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Stanislas Wawrinka became just the third man to beat Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam final, snapping his 12-match losing streak to the Spaniard to win 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the Australian Open men's final. Wawrinka will rise to No. 3 on Monday, taking over the position as the Swiss No. 1 from Roger Federer after becoming the first man since Juan Martin del Potro to snag a Slam title from the ATP's Big Four. Nadal said after the match that he felt back pain during his pre-match warm up and the injury grew worse as the match progressed.

"[This] is not the moment to talk a lot about the back," Nadal said, shutting down questions about the extent of the injury. "It's Stan's day, not my day. As I say before, I try my best and was not possible for me today. I'm obviously disappointed and very sad about what happened. But that's life, that's sport."

Wawrinka was still in shock after the win and admitted that he would need time to process just what he's done. "There's a big chance I get drunk tonight," he said after the match. Well if there was ever a time to do it, it would be after your first Slam win.

Here are some of our favorite photos from the men's final:

Stanislas Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal

You jump, I stretch. (Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal

Nadal's bad Australian luck continues. This is the fifth time in the last nine years Nadal has suffered an injury in Melbourne. (GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images)

Stanislas Wawrinka

Brian Teacher was the last No. 8 seed to win the Australian Open, doing so in 1980. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Pete Sampras, Stanislas Wawrinka

If Nadal had won the title he would have matched Pete Sampras' 14 Slam titles. (Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Stanislas Wawrinka

"Did Roger call?" Eventually he did. (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal

Nadal couldn't hide his disappointment. (Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

Stanislas Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal

These two are good friends, and Wawrinka comforted Nadal while the two waited for the trophy ceremony. (Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Stanislas Wawrinka

Consider Wawrinka an amped up Federer. Bigger serve, bigger backhand, and that made all the difference against Nadal. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal

Frustration. Nadal was trying to become the first man in the Open Era to win all four Slams at least twice. (SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Stanislas Wawrinka

Published
Courtney Nguyen
COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.