When you think of Swiss tennis, Stan Wawrinka, may not be the first player that comes to mind, but in recent years he has been an exceptional player on the ATP Tour. But will he come back to those high levels?
Now 36-years-old, its safe to say that Stanimal is in the twilight of his career.
Between the ages of 28 and 32, Wawrinka reached some incredible highs.
He launched himself to stardom in winning the 2014 Australian Open against a crocked Rafael Nadal.
This was then consolidated with impressive Grand Slam wins against Novak Djokovic at both the French Open and US Open.
Before you know it, Wawrinka was a three-time Grand Slam Champion and sat as high as world number three.
In 2017, he lost a fiercely contested five-set thriller in the Australian Open semi-finals to eventual winner and fellow Swiss, Roger Federer.
He then beat Andy Murray in a battle of attrition at the French Open semi-final stage, a match that gave both players long-term injuries to both hip and knee, respectively. The win set up a finale against Nadal but Wawrinka was easily crushed.
That is the last Wawrinka has been a major force on the Grand Slam stage, and for five years, he has had the Career Slam within his grasp.
2019 saw some resurgence, as Stan played one of the matches of the year to stun the then upcoming talent of Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets, to set up a mouth-watering quarter-final with Federer.
However, the 20-time Grand Slam champion bettered his clay-court rival, to exact some revenge for the 2014 Monte Carlo Masters final loss.
Since the pandemic began, Wawrinka has had a catalogue of knee issues and went out in the second round of last year’s Australian Open to Márton Fucsovics in five sets.
He was then last seen on the ATP Tour at Doha in March last year, nearly 12 months ago.
So where is Stan now in his comeback?
At the weekend, Stan posted an image of his famous one-handed backhand, one of the best in tennis by the way.
In the Instagram post he says ‘back soon’ suggesting that his comeback is not far away. However, the million-dollar question, is when?
Having made the final of Indian Wells back in 2017, losing again to yes, you guessed it, Federer, would the Californian desert be the destination of Stan’s latest comeback?
Or perhaps the Miami Masters shortly after?
In my honest opinion, it looks unlikely that he would throw himself into a Masters 1000 so soon.
Stan will need to build up his form and fitness, as well as his confidence, which comes from winning a sequence of matches.
The more likely bet is that we could see Wawrinka appear at the Acapulco Open in Mexico later this month. Or perhaps in Dubai, a tournament he won back in 2017.
Playing ATP 250 events and ATP 500 would be a path back to full fitness, and it is not inconceivable that Wawrinka will use the Challenger Circuit as another way to build his body back up.
Training with top 100 players would also help him in his quest.
Can Wawrinka cause serious damage again to his rivals?
Of course, he can! The Wawrinka power-play is possible once Stan fixes his knee issue and builds the necessary match fitness back up, he will be a force to be reckoned with again.
Even at 36, the hard-courts can be his domain. The power he generates off both wings, forehand and backhand side is explosive.
If Wawrinka can keep the points short, he can outlast his opponent with explosive power tennis and blast them off the court!
He is a great clay-court player, which makes me wonder if he fancies taking on the clay season this year.
But it would be interesting if he can improve his grass-court ability and turn one of his greatest weaknesses, into one of his greatest strengths, even late on in his career.
We’ve seen with Ivo Karlović at 39 years old, now 42, how he excelled on grass, using his monster serve as a useful weapon on the surface. And age didn’t stop Dr Ivo.
The same can be said for Stan, and if he catches fire, he can cause a lot of problems for any opponent.
Wimbledon is the last piece of the jigsaw missing for Wawrinka, and what a legend he would be if he miraculously won the career Grand Slam, in spite of his injury troubles.
Stan has a unique superpower in that he knows, and can implement how to beat Djokovic, and how tennis fans would love to see him accomplish that again.
Part of the battle is in his mind, not just his body. Will he come back the player of old? Only Stan can decide that.
