Rafael Nadal reached over the net after the second set of Sunday night’s Australian Open final and offered the match to Stanislas Wawrinka.

A fumbling, bumbling Wawrinka thought hard about handing it back to the world No.1 before grabbing hold again and falling over the line to claim his first grand slam title.

In a match that confounded all who saw it and, for an hour or so had the winner in a state of total confusion, Wawrinka won 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-3.

The eighth seed who had spent the previous fortnight building a tower of self-belief as he took over from Roger Federer as Switzerland’s No.1 tennis player, seemed intent on self-destruction in a third set in which he lost the plot as his opponent stumbled from point-to-point.

Wawrinka began the final playing his best tennis of the championship, racing to a 2-0 lead.

With Wawrinka seemingly on the way to a shock victory, Nadal left the court after the second set to receive treatment for a back injury.

When he returned he could hardly serve, hardly run and hardly compete.

But rather than go for the throat, Wawrinka took pity on the 13-time grand slam winner.

Nadal struggled to serve at women’s speed and couldn’t run more than two steps for any ball.

At the same time he turned the match around, winning the third set as Wawrinka, who needed only to get the ball over the net, tortured himself.

He patted shots back to Nadal, whacked them wildly long and served pathetic double faults.

After trading service breaks with the Spaniard in the fourth set, Wawrinka dragged himself back from wherever he’d gone, played a couple of sensible games and won as he should have.

Among the positives for the man whose life changed during the two weeks of the tournament and a couple of times on Sunday night was the $2.65 million winner’s cheque.

He also became the first player to beat both Nadal and second seed Novak Djokovic in the same grand slam.

“In one year a lot has happened,” Wawrinka said.

“I still don’t know if I’m dreaming or not.”