Three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka says he is ‘feeling positive’ ahead of his return to tennis at the Australian Open.
Wawrinka, who won the Melbourne major back in 2014, hasn’t played a competitive match on the tour for almost six months. He underwent knee surgery in August after experiencing ongoing problems. At his lowest, Wawrinka revelled to Swiss newspaper Le Matin that he even contemplated retiring from the sport altogether.
Fortunately retirement has now been ruled out as the world No.9 makes his final preparations ahead of the first grand slam of the season.
“I’m really, really happy to be back on the tour and seeing the sun,” the 32-year-old told reporters in Melbourne.
“Still a lot to do but I’m feeling really positive, so looking forward to starting.”
The STANIMAL has arrived 🇨🇭💪 pic.twitter.com/k7ugVe1iV5
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 6, 2018
Before next week’s tournament, Wawrinka will get his first taste of competitive action at a Tie Break Tens tournament on Wednesday. A special one-night event where the winner claims $250,000 in prize money. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are also set to play.
Relishing his return back to action, the former world No.3 is under no illusion of how tough it may be. Emulating the struggles of other players on the tour. Both Djokovic and Nadal had to delay their start to 2018 due to ongoing injury issues. Meanwhile, Andy Murray has recently undergone hip surgery.
For now a major title is not on Wawrinka’s mind. Instead, his focus is on getting match play and thriving upon the Australian Open atmosphere. An unsurprisingly revelation for a player that is known for playing his best tennis in the biggest tournaments of the sport.
“For me, the first thing is to play a match, to play a tennis match again. It’s been many months out of the tour,” Wawrinka said. “It’s not always the best when you are an athlete so I’m looking forward to it, enjoying the crowd.
“It’s always an amazing atmosphere here. The people love the sport, love the tennis so I always enjoy to share that with them.”
Wawrinka’s return has been welcomed by tournament director Craig Tiley. Speaking with reporters, Tiley has confirmed that the Swiss player has stated his intention to play. A relief for the event, which has been affected by a series of high-profile withdrawals in recent days.
“There’s been a lot of questions (around Wawrinka) and in fact this is the first time publicly in six months that he’s said anything, so we are excited that he agreed to come here and is ready to play,” Tiley said.
The Australian Open will be Wawrinka’s 51st appeared in a major.
Our #AusOpen ballkids were happy little Vegemites when 2014 champion @stanwawrinka stopped by to welcome them to Melbourne Park.@Vegemite pic.twitter.com/a36ced7oad
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 9 January 2018
