What Stan Wawrinka lacks in consistency, he makes up for in sheer brute force. The Swiss 31-year-old might not be able to grind out win after win, week after week, in the manner of the other top players on the tour. But, as he has proved several times over the last few years, he can power his way past even the very best in the game.

So it was that Wawrinka outhit an ailing Novak Djokovic on Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. The world No. 3 won 67(1) 64 75 63 to keep up his 100% win record in Grand Slam finals.

Wawrinka is, in the words of his opponent, a man for the "big time". Having won just four of the 13 finals he had contested prior to 2014, he has won all of the 11 finals he has played since then.

"Today I knew it will be a really tough battle again playing the No. 1 player, Novak Djokovic, who always push you to play your best tennis if you want to beat him," the Swiss said later.

Famed for his lethal single-handed background, on Sunday it was the forehand that did much of the work, sending Djokovic from side-to-side across the baseline and drawing the errors from the world No. 1 in a way that few, if any, other players could manage.

"Practicing hard," was the simple, and certainly not comprehensive, answer from Wawrinka when asked what his secret was. He has fought incredibly hard this event – playing at least four sets in each of the last five rounds, and having to save a match point against world No. 64 Dan Evans at the end of the first week.

Djokovic, by contrast, has had a simpler time of things, a series of retirements and walkovers seeing the world No. 1 spend less than nine hours on court to reach the final. And perhaps that was why Djokovic began the the brighter, racing to an early break to go 2-0 up.

Wawrinka could not make any inroads on the Djokovic serve, and was coming under pressure with ball in hand himself. Djokovic opened up two set point chances when Wawrinka served at 2-5 down, but the Swiss battled his way out of trouble to level things up.

The set went to the tiebreak, and here the Serb raised his level – he won the breaker for the loss of just a single point to move one set ahead.

But Wawrinka, although disappointing in the tiebreak, had found his rhythm by this stage, and he seized his chance to put Djokovic under pressure in the fourth game of the second set, breaking the Serb and then blasting his way back from 0-40 in the next game to go 4-1 up.

Djokovic broke back, but Wawrinka struck again with the world No. 1 serving to stay in it, breaking when Djokovic sent a forehand wide – and after an hour and 45 minutes, things were all-square once more.

The world No. 1 had more break points early in third, but it was Wawrinka who made the breakthrough with some truly scintillating shot-making to move to 3-0. But Djokovic responded extremely well, tying things up at 3-3.

Djokovic served to stay in the set at 5-6 – and it was here when the Swiss struck, carving out a set point and taking it when Djokovic hooked a backhand wide.

An early break for Wawrinka in the fourth set seemed to set the Swiss on his way, with Djokovic visibly in pain, and grasping his leg after every point. Djokovic managed to avoid going a double break down, but called the trainer to deal with a bloody toe after the fourth game.

The Serb continued to fight – he knows no other way – but despite winning himself three more break point opportunities, he could not convert any of them. Nor could he prevent Wawrinka from closing out the match in just a few minutes short of four hours.

"You have to accept to suffer and you have almost to enjoy to suffer," Wawrinka said. "Because I think this Grand Slam was the most painful, physically and mentally, Grand Slam that I ever played."

The joy of taking the trophy home with him should offset that pain somewhat. "I'm happy and proud with what I have achieved today," he added.

With three Grand Slam titles to his name, surely Wawrinka now deserves to be considered among the best of his generation. "He definitely deserves to be mentioned in the mix of top players," was Djokovic’s verdict.

As for his own game, the world No. 1 rued the chances he had missed to put the Swiss under pressure. "I just didn't capitalize at all on my opportunities," he said. "I had plenty of them, break points. It was a terrible conversion of the break points." The stats agree with him – he won just three of the 17 break point chances he had during the match, while Wawrinka won six from 10.

What next for Wawrinka? "I just want to push myself to the limit and see where I can go," he said. If he can find more of the fight that has taken him to three Slam titles, more major success may well come his way.

In the day’s other final, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova won the third women’s doubles Grand Slam titles of their careers, with victory over the No. 1 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic. The American-Czech pair came from behind to record a 26 76(5) 64 victory in two hours and six minutes.

"It was a little bit of a slow start, but I've got to give credit to our opponents," Mattek-Sands said. "They came out playing big, serving big, making all their rolls, ripping returns."

The pair fought their way back into it well – and they literally jumped for joy when Mladenovic missed a backhand at match point down. They now have a third major title to add to the titles they won at the Australian Open and Roland Garros in 2015.

"I think the chemistry is great. We complement each other so well. Our games just fit," Safarova explained. This latest success means a career Grand Slam is now just one Wimbledon win away. But the pair are trying to stay grounded.

"We're enjoying the moment," Mattek-Sands said. 'Team Bucie', as they have become known, certainly deserve to do just that.