TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN – 24th of January 2015. S.Wawrinka d. J.Nieminen 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. An interview with Stan Wawrinka
Q. How much does the Stan the Man T-shirt cost?
STAN WAWRINKA: I can sell you one if you want (smiling).
Q. How are you feeling after that match today?
STAN WAWRINKA: I feel good. It was a really good match from me today. I was playing great. Tried to be more aggressive than normal. Did few mistake at the beginning. I was a little bit hesitating with my game. But in general I think was a strong match.
Q. Everybody is going to ask you this question, of course.
STAN WAWRINKA: Go for it. Roger?
Q. You can’t guess.
STAN WAWRINKA: Roger lost yesterday. Yeah, but there’s a lot of question over that. How did he play? How did he feel? If I talk to him today (laughter)? Just tell me what you want to know.
Q. What is your reaction?
STAN WAWRINKA: Well, it was a surprise, for sure. I watch not all the match, but big part of the match. I think Seppi was playing really well, playing really flat like he can play. And Roger was not feeling great on the court. You can see. When Roger make double- fault, that mean he not in a big day. Was a big surprise for everybody.
Q. Stan the Man, Stanimal, Stantastic. What’s next?
STAN WAWRINKA: Stan. It’s fun to have a shirt like this. It’s fun to have some surname. For that you have to play good and I’m here to win matches. I’m focused on that, not on my surname.
Q. Do you feel the whole interest with Roger going out, the other stories, that you’re flying somewhat below the radar like you did a year ago?
STAN WAWRINKA: No, I think I’m feeling good since the beginning of the tournament. For sure I’m not the focus on the tournament because there’s Novak, Rafa coming back from injury, was Roger also just lost, there’s Kyrgios, Tomic still playing. For sure I’m not the focus. For me doesn’t matter. I’m feeling good. I’m feeling great. I’m happy the way I’m playing. To get to the second week again, it’s great. So far everything is good for me.
Q. Do you like it better when you’re not the focus? Does it take some of the pressure off?
STAN WAWRINKA: I don’t know. For me, I’m dealing with the situation. Doesn’t matter what is it. The most important is that I focus on what I’m doing and how I want to be on the court. So far I’ve been practicing well, happy with my team here. I feel good and relaxed on the court.
Q. Are you starting to feel any sort of similarities between last year and this year, the way you’re feeling about your game?
STAN WAWRINKA: No, not really. I don’t try to think or to compare anything. For me it’s a new tournament. It’s been going well. I’m playing great tennis. I’m playing good. That’s it. I’m focused match after match. That’s the most important. page 1 of 2
Q. Since you arrived, you mentioned you took the picture of yourself in the champions hall. Have you looked at it again since arriving?
STAN WAWRINKA: The picture I took or the picture on the wall (smiling)?
Q. Do you like to look at it?
STAN WAWRINKA: No, no, no. I saw when I walk on the court, I saw my picture over there. It’s better. As I say, I’m focus on the tournament this year. I’m not thinking about last year. I had some amazing memories from last year, for sure. But it’s really important to stay on what’s happening today and what’s going to happen tomorrow.
Q. What do you make of Kyrgios and Tomic as players, how good they could be maybe?
STAN WAWRINKA: Well, I think for sure they have good potential, especially Kyrgios. Tomic has been there since many years already. Is little bit different. But he has the potential to be in the top 10. Kyrgios also. Now we need to see, yeah, how they’re going to work, how they’re going to get there mentally because I am sure they thinking about being No. 1 and winning Grand Slam, not just being top 20. So let’s see what’s going to happen.
