Former World No. 4 Tim Henman claims that three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka remains the biggest threat to his compatriot Roger Federer and World No. 1 Rafael Nadal’s supremacy on the ATP tour.
Henman, a former four-time Wimbledon semifinalist who shares a close bond with Federer, admits that Wawrinka has the big weapons to hurt both Nadal and the 19-time Grand Slam champion.
However, the 32-year-old has been out of the sport since losing in the first round of Wimbledon in July. Wawrinka, who has been troubled by a knee issue for some time now, underwent knee surgery to get rid of the problem during the summer. Stan was all set to make his return at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi after Christmas, but pulled out of the exhibition event after confessing he was unable to play for long durations in practice.
When he is completely fit, Wawrinka is a difficult opponent to beat and Henman has put the 2014 Australian Open champion on top of a list of players who can trouble Nadal, Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray next season.
He told Express Sport: “I still think, on a consistent basis, if he’s fit and healthy, [Stan] Wawrinka has proved he is a big match player and has the weapons to really hurt the top four.
“The next level below you go [Grigor] Dimitrov, [Juan Martin] Del Potro, [Milos] Raonic.”
But the former six-time Grand Slam semifinalist declares that Nadal and Federer will be the men to beat in 2018.
He added: “I think what Federer and Nadal achieved this year was absolutely incredible and I would not be the slightest bit surprised if they did it all again next year. That’s how good they are. The biggest challenge for both them is making sure they stay healthy.
“As we all know, that gets harder and harder as you get older. But the way they played this year, head and shoulders above the rest as number one and two in the world.
“And they go into the Australian Open as the favorites if they are 100 per cent healthy.”
