Stan Wawrinka believes that he is in a better shape than last year as he prepares for the defence of his French Open title in two weeks’ time.
The world No.4 spoke positively about the state of his form following his win over Benoit Paire in the first round of the Rome Masters. Wawrinka was forced to come from a set down to see of the Frenchman 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. Despite his first set blip, the Swiss player believes that he is currently playing better than 12 months ago.
“I think in general I think I’m playing better than last year. Last year I was looking for my game a little bit before the tournament. I started to find it during the tournament and started to play really well at the end,” Wawrinka said.
“In general, I’m practising really well. I know my level is there, so hopefully I can play better and better.”
The comments come after what has been a mixed couple of months on the tour for the French Open champion. Since winning the Dubai Open in February, Wawrinka has failed to reach the semifinals at four consecutive tournaments. Last week he suffered a straight sets loss to Nick Kyrgios in the second round of the Madrid Masters.
This year Wawrinka will be bidding to become the first player from his country to win back-to-back French Open titles, however, he is under no illusion of how tough the task will be. Speaking about the favourites for the title this year, Wawrinka has placed Djokovic at the top of his list followed by Murray and Nadal.
“I see Novak, for sure, the favourite, as last year. I think he’s going to be tough to beat,” Wawrinka said.
“He’s going to be the big favourite. Then I would put Murray and Rafa. Rafa is starting to get back some confidence. He’s playing better. Murray has been playing extremely well, especially on clay in recent years. Last year he won Madrid. So it’s going to be I think a really interesting French Open again.”
Prior to his French Open mission, the world No.4 has this week’s Rome Masters and next week’s Geneva Open to play. The next match in Rome for Wawrinka will be against Argentina’s Juan Monaco in the third round, a player who he has a 100% winning record against (5-0).
Good to be back in #rome ! Great first match yesterday night!! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/CnQxIKEFwT
— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) 11 May 2016
