Stan Wawrinka finally come back to the court at the Italian Open 2022. The Swiss champion could not have been at his best given the time he was out due to injury, but regaining the victory, or rather two, before crashing against future champion Novak Djokovic in the third round, was of vital importance for Stan, if only from a psychological point of view.
Now that the physical problems seem to leave him alone, Wawrinka is preparing to savor the red clay of the Roland Garros, which saw him triumph in 2015, where he has been missing since 2 October 2020. The Lausanne champion has managed to become champion Slam two more times in his glorious career (Australian Open 2014, US Open 2016) and he did so while the Tour was dominated by the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
Wawrinka: “Never set the goal of winning a Grand Slam”
Nevertheless, Stan Wawrinka, with great humility, does not recognize himself as a legend of this sport. He said to We Love Tennis: “I am aware of what I have achieved and I also know how difficult it has been, especially in this period of tennis history in which the Big 4 dominated.
So for now, legend or not, it depends on where you place the cursor. We will be able to make a real assessment when I have interrupted my career.” According to Stan Wawrinka, in the years in which he was about to break into the world of professionalism he never set the goal of becoming a Grand Slam champion in mind.
Instead, over the course of his career so far, he has found himself winning three: “When I was younger I never set myself the goal of winning a Grand Slam,” revealed the 37-year-old Swiss: “My dream was to be a professional player, to live off my passion, to be part of the top-100.
However, I managed to build a nice resume. But to be completely honest, I would never have dared to dream of winning so much.”