Swiss Indoors: Stan Wawrinka wants inspiration in Basel

“I’ve never experienced anything like last year in Switzerland,” enthuses Stan Wawrinka when talking about his strong performance at the recent Swiss Indoor Championships. Roman is A three-time Grand Slam champion who remains often in Roger Federer’s shadow during his career, especially in German-speaking Switzerland. At the first tournament in Basel after the maestro’s retirement in 2022, Wawrinka received for the first time the recognition he has long earned for his achievements.

Now “Stan the Man” wants those again this year “Wonderful” nights. The experience thanks to which he reached the quarter-finals last year. Although he has won only one match in the last three tournaments in Astana, Shanghai and Stockholm, he is still happy with his condition. “I feel good physically and tennis-wise,” says the 38-year-old.

Wawrinka wants to show the boys

The veteran wants to show the young players again. With those in Basel Top ranked Ron Holger
(ATP 6), he even completed training sessions together at St. Jakobsall, although the two have argued on court several times in the past. “It’s always fun to play with the younger generation,” says Wawrinka.

This season, the French-speaking Swiss has shown what he is still capable of, especially on the big stage. At the French Open, he presented two stunning five-set matches to viewers; At Wimbledon, he only failed against superstar Novak Djokovic. At the recent US Open, world number four Jannik Sinner needed to beat Wawrinka. Now he can play his best again in the local tournament.

“A lot of things went wrong”

In the past few weeks, Wawrinka has spoken publicly several times about matters that concern tennis stars off the court. Whether it was demands for a uniform ball on tour or criticism of the revised Davis Cup format: Roman was not shy about voicing his opinion.

“A lot of things have gone in the wrong direction in recent years,” explains Wawrinka. But he was always involved in such topics. “I played in four consecutive tournaments with four different balls,” he explains. That’s why he got upset about it on social media because frequent changing of balls could lead to injuries.

Davis Cup repair has always bothered him. When he participated in the changing format for the first time this year, he felt the need to communicate it publicly. “Compared to before, today’s Davis Cup is a disaster,” Wawrinka said.

If he were in charge, the first thing he would do is change the match calendar. “It’s too long at the moment,” the Swiss says of the schedule packed with tennis stars. In Basel, he certainly wouldn’t mind playing a lot of matches in a row, as it would mean another strong home tournament for Wawrinka.

View comments