French Open champion Stan Wawrinka has talked about his 2016 goals during an extensive interview with Reem Abulleil from Sport 360.
At 4th in the world the Swiss player will be hoping to continue his solid performance from this year. In 2015 Wawrinka claimed four titles on the tour, including his second grand slam title at the French Open. With a win-loss this season of 55-18, the 30-year-old has produced wins over Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray at some point during 2015. Despite the group of impressive results, Wawrinka has remained level-headed about his goals for the new tennis season.
“My goal is to be the best player I can and to have no regrets when I stop playing tennis,” he told Sport 360.
“The priority for me is to practice well, to do the best schedule I can and to give myself the chance to be fit and ready for every tournament. I’m not good enough to say my priorities are the grand slams so I want to play well in the grand slams. No. I know that if I want to play in the slams I need all the tournaments before to try to do my best.”
Speaking about the Rio Olympics, Wawrinka has stated that he is currently unsure as to which draw he will participate in. Roger Federer’s coach, Severin Luthi, recently hinted during an interview with Bieler Tagblatt that the two men could team up in the men’s doubles draw. In 2008 the two Swiss players won gold in the men’s doubles tournament at the Beijing Olympics.
“To play singles, doubles and mixed doubles, if you win a few matches in all three, it’s tough. So I need to think, to see what I want, what I’ll be happy with”. Wawrinka said about his Olympic intentions.
The friendship between Wawrinka and Federer has been a lengthy one but it has also experienced some testing moments. Shortly after their semifinal encounter at the 2014 ATP World Tour Finals, the two men exchanged words in a ‘heated argument’. The argument was triggered after accusations that Federer’s wife was heckling Wawrinka during the match. The fallout was short-lived with the two men reconciling shortly after. Over a year since the incident, Wawrinka labels the 17-time grand slam champion as an inspirational figure for him and his continuation of playing tennis into his 30’s.
“You’re not trying to do the same because it’s impossible to copy him, he’s just too far away in front of everybody, but it’s inspiring to see that at 34 he can be at his top. Like last year he was moving, he was playing amazing at the US Open. It can give you some little thought that it means it’s possible, at my level and my game and everything, that means it’s possible to play longer.” He said.
Wawrinka will return to action at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in the UAE. After receiving a bye in the first round of the prestigious exhibition event, he will play either Milos Raonic or Kevin Anderson in the last four.
