He’s come off what was undoubtedly his best season to date, where he’s finished at a career-high No8, made his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open and reached the last four at the season-ending World Tour Finals.
An Olympic doubles gold medallist alongside Swiss superstar Roger Federer in Beijing, Stanislas Wawrinka has wowed the crowds all year with his sublime onehanded backhand and improved all-round game.
Sport360° caught up with the Swiss No2 to find out how he plans on keeping up his good form in 2014.
Q: You’ve teamed up with former world No2 Magnus Norman this year. How do you feel he has helped your game?
A: I’m really happy with my relationship with him. He helped me a lot, as we can see from the ranking, he came in the right time for me. I was already playing well last year at the beginning of the season, but he brought to me his idea of the game and how to get there.
Q: You started 2013 losing an incredible five-setter to Novak Djokovic in Australia (10-12 in the fifth). Was it tough to recover from that loss?
A: I think the positive thing about last year was that I could play for five hours against the No1 player in the Australian Open and twice in Grand Slams, in semi-finals in the US Open also. So for me last year was very positive because I had great wins like against (Richard) Gasquet and against (Andy) Murray in the US Open and I didn’t ask myself why I didn’t win against Djokovic, I was more looking for the positive which is that I’m happy that I can play at the level, I can be there.
Q: Why do you think many top players – including yourself – are hiring ex-champions?
A: It depends where you are, in your career. For me it was the right time. When I was young I had the best coach I could have, my first coach, he helped me to get there. But at 27, or 28 you’re looking for something different, maybe more experience.
With Magnus, I know that he’s been there, he’s been in tight matches in Grand Slams, quarterfinals, semi-finals, so we can always talk and share, he can tell me a little bit what he thinks and I think that experience is really important.
Q: How do you make sure you keep up your form from last season?
A: I think it was important to switch off, especially after a long season, to enjoy a little bit, because it’s not every day that you can finish in the top-eight. So I tried to enjoy, recharge the battery to get back on the tennis court, to practice well. Again for me the most important aspect is to practice every day to try to improve and that’s the only way.
Q: Have you managed to see Roger Federer while you were here in the UAE?
A: We’ve texted already but I know he had to leave to Australia so we missed each other.
