Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic talked to the press ahead of this week’s Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 tournament.
Wawrinka will be bidding to win his second title in Monte-Carlo three years after beating his compatriot Roger Federer in the famous Country Club. He will play in the Principality for the 10th time in his career. Monte-Carlo was the first Masters 1000 title in his career just three months after his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
This year Wawrinka lost to Roger Federer in the Australian Open semifinal and in the Indian Wells final. He also reached the semifinal in Brisbane.
“I am delighted to play in Monte-Carlo. I arrived here on Friday and I am delighted with my training sessions. I am very excited to get back on clay, a surface that I have always enjoyed. I always love coming back here. The Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters is a tournament I have always liked. It’s the first one on clay. Besides, it’s the first Masters 1000 I won, so because of that it has a special place in my heart”, said Wawrinka.
Djokovic was also very confident ahead of his debut in his “home” tournament against Frenchman Gilles Simon despite some injury concerns which forced him to miss Miami.
“I feel very well. I have recovered from my elbow injury. The weekend in the Davis Cup was very positive. I am more careful with recovery time. Staying at home in this period with my family has helped me a lot. It was very important to stay in my environment and sleep in my bed. It’s important to be confident and believe in myself. It’s normal that there are ups and downs but it’s necessary to take time to have rest. In the past years I was used to have a great start in the first three months of the year. I had great success at the Australian Open and in the following tournaments. The contrary has happened this year and the first three months did not go as planned. Last year I could not take a period of rest after Roland Garros because it was the Olympic year and I could not recover physically and mentally”, said Djokovic. .
