Three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka believes he still ‘has a way to go’ in order to return back to the top of his game.
The 33-year-old is competing in this week’s Western and Southern Open after being granted a wild card into the main draw. Wawrinka finds himself ranked outside the world’s top 100 after what has been a challenging past 12 months. In August 2017, he underwent two knee operations within the space of eight days. Bringing his season to an end. Returning to the tour in January, Wawrinka’s comeback has been far from smooth with a series of disappointing results as well as being forced to take another short break to continue rehabilitation on his knee.
“I feel it’s getting there. For sure there is still a lot of work to do. I need to see how it’s going to be the next few weeks, how I’m going to handle everything.” Wawrinka told reporters about his ongoing recovery.
Despite his recent misfortunes, things are on the up for Wawrinka this week in Cincinnati. After knocking out 12th seed Diego Schwartzman, he defeated Kei Nishikori on Wednesday. Against the Japanese player, he fired eight aces and dropped just six points behind his first serve. The wins are encouraging signs for the Swiss player, but still he is keeping grounded about his current fitness levels.
“I want to win as much as I can. Today (Wednesday) I was feeling great on the court. I’m going to see how I feel tomorrow again.” He said.
“I need to just be patient with myself, accept things that is happening but still working out, working the right way, doing the right stuff off the court every day, day by day, and by doing that, I know that I will get there.”
Wawrinka is just a win away from reaching his third tour quarter-final of the season after Sofia and Geneva. Standing in his way is Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics. It will be the second time in as many weeks that the players have locked horns. At the Rogers Cup, Wawrinka prevailed 12-10 in the final set tiebreaker against Fucsovics.
“It’s a different tournament. It’s a bit faster here.” Wawrinka commented about the upcoming clash.
“I feel like for sure I gain a lot of confidence from last week. By winning two matches, I start to feel better on the court, to move better.
“I need to keep focusing on what I’m doing, keep trying to play my game, being aggressive.”
After this week, Wawrinka will head to New York to prepare for the US Open. The world No,151, who won the tournament back in 2016, has been granted a wild card into the main draw. He will be guided by coach Magnus Norman at the tournament, although it is unclear as to what will happen to their partnership in the future.
“Honestly, we only did the schedule until US Open, so we need to just see how we are going to handle the rest of the year.” Wawrinka commented about his work with Norman.
“When we started again in April, we did the schedule to the US Open, basically.
“For sure I’m sure we both want to keep going.”
This week Wawrinka is seeking his first title in almost 15 months.
