Stan Wawrinka talked to Swiss weekly magazine L’illustre about his close relationship to his compatriot Roger Federer.
The two Swiss stars won the Olympic gold medal in the doubles tournament in Beijing 2008 and the Davis Cup in 2014. They have won a total of 23 Grand Slam titles (20 for Federer and 3 for Wawrinka) and share a close bond with each other.
Wawrinka was asked whether he feels unlucky to be playing in the same era as Federer. Stan won three Grand Slam titles and reached a career-high in the ATP Ranking in the Big 3 Era.
“Roger taught me a lot. When I got on the tour, he was already number one in the world and had won several Grand Slams. I have always enjoyed learning from others. I owe a lot of Grand Slam titles to the “Big Three”. I am certainly the player who trained the most with them. I watched a lot of their games. At the start of my career, I was able to count on Roger’s advice before I faced the best. He was like a big brother on the circuit. I like Roger’s calmness and the importance of living in the present moment. His days are ultra-busy, but he remains incredibly calm”, said Wawrinka.
Wawrinka remembers the first time he met Federer.
“It was on a clay court in Biel at Swiss Tennis. I was 16 and I was there as a sparring partner. I remember that I put myself under crazy pressure. I was paralyzed at the idea of missing the shots. I had given everything. I was red after five minutes on the court”, said Wawrinka.
Wawrinka spent the period of quarantine at home and took the positive from this experience.
“I enjoyed this period without travels. It gave me the chance of staying with my daughter and helping her for school. I enjoyed relaxing at home. These weeks did very well for me”.
Wawrinka is still planning to travel to the USA to play in the hard-court season. At the moment the ATP Tour is expected to re-start on 14th August in Washington.
“I chose my training plan to be ready for this date, even though nothing is certain. The United States are still in the mid of the pandemic and nobody know how the pandemic will develop. We are talking about playing Cincinnati and the US Open in the same place behind closed doors, hosting players in the same hotel, but we all know that many things can happen. As athletes, we are used to adapt to the situation”.
Federer leads 23-3 in their 26 head-to-head matches, but they are 1-1 in finals. Wawrinka beat Federer in three sets 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 in Monte-Carlo to claim his maiden Masters 1000 title. Federer avenged this defeat by winning the Indian Wells Masters 1000 final 6-4 7-5. Federer beat Wawrinka in 2019 Roland Garros quarter finals 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
