Stan Wawrinka is maintaining his passion for tennis but has admitted he is ‘frustrated’ about his three set defeat to Alejandro Tabilo in Monte-Carlo.
The three-time Grand Slam champion was aiming to set up a second round contest with arch nemesis Novak Djokovic and made the perfect start by winning a 20 minute set.
However, Wawrinka would lose 1-6 7-5 7-5 to Tabilo who won his first match on clay since last may.
Speaking about the match Wawrinka admitted it’s frustrating to lose these types of matches especially at this stage of his career, “Yeah, it’s those tough loss, frustrating, frustrating loss today, but level is there. Missing some really tough things to finish those matches,” Wawrinka stated in his press conference.
“Frustration increases with years because you know you are getting close to the end and you will have less opportunities of going further in the tournaments if you lose. So it’s more frustrating. As always in tennis, it was one point here, one point there. Maybe feeling a bit too relaxed at certain important moments.
“I should have been more aggressive now and then, and also I made mistakes at the bad moments sometimes, and that made the difference.”
As mentioned earlier the defeat to the Chilean means that Wawrinka misses out the opportunity to play Djokovic at another big event.
However the Swiss denied feeling further frustrated by the fact that he’s not playing the 24-time Grand Slam champion, “Well, I want to play the best tournaments, to play the best players. That’s all,” Wawrinka explained.
“Whether it’s more frustrating not being able to play him, I wouldn’t say that, no, not at all. It doesn’t change anything. The frustration of losing a match like today is always there, and I need to do what I need to do to make sure in the following matches I will be able to pull out these situations.”
It was Djokovic who earlier in the week heaped praise on Wawrinka for continuing to play the sport at 40 years of age.
The passion is stronger than it ever has been before for Wawrinka as he admitted he enjoys the process of playing tennis still, “Like we said, passion of the sport. You know that as an athlete, when you stop there is no comeback possible, especially when you get older,” Wawrinka told the media in Monaco.
“I want to enjoy as much as possible. I love playing tennis. Playing tennis, it’s a game that I really enjoy. Had the chance to play all the best tournaments in the world. I want to keep pushing a little bit. I enjoy the process. I enjoy the practice. I enjoy playing those big tournaments like here, like today, those big match, and that’s what keeps me going a little bit.”
Wawrinka has a wildcard to next week’s ATP 500 in Barcelona which will be his next tournament on the road to Roland Garros.
