I love to drive, Stan Wawrinka said, gunning his borrowed Audi through a yellow light in downtown Miami. As of April, the 29-year-old is the third-best mens tennis player on Earth, even if he hasnt yet learned to act like it. Wawrinka doesnt travel with much of an entourage – theres no nutritionist on call, no hired hands to carry his luggage. He is Swiss; gracious, humble, and unassuming; the sort of guy who posts on Instagram, A person whos nice to you but not nice to the waiter is not a nice person. Indisputably, the past decade has been a golden age of tennis, but the eras glitter stuck to only an elite gang of four. From June 2005 until this past January, all but one Grand Slam tournament was won by someone named Federer, Murray, Djokovic, or Nadal. Wawrinka always hung in there, even occasionally beating the top seeds, although to casual fans he was known as the second-best player in Switzerland. His friend Roger Federer is considered by many to be the best player ever. Wawrinka agrees. He has told anyone who will listen that he isnt bothered by playing in the great ones shadow. After all, Federers not just some dude – hes a buddy, a supporter, and an occasional doubles partner. He and Wawrinka joined together in 2008 to win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. Wawrinka is an underdogs underdog – reserved off-court but a wunderkind when holding a racquet, with all the modern accoutrements: big serve, outstanding fitness, and a balletic, one-handed backhand that may be the finest in the game. But for all his skill and precision, he simply didnt win big matches. Worse, he never looked as if he thought he should. Until he did, in January, when he won the Australian Open. Before Stan the Man – Wawrinkas inevitable nickname in the press after his Sydney triumph – there was Stan the Teenage Farmhand. Stan grew up working on his parents farm in Lausanne, Switzerland. When he was eight, his parents told him and his brother to choose a sport. Five minutes up the road was a tennis club. Thats it, Wawrinka said, shrugging, when I asked him, Why tennis? Thats just how it goes. At 15, he devoted himself to the game full-time. Hes been on the circuit for about a decade, occasionally winning smaller tournaments or making inroads at the majors, eventually losing to one of the top players. Commentators praised his dramatic shot-making, his decorum, his foot speed. Yet for a decade Wawrinka remained one of the guys who might win a major one day. In March, days before the Sony Open in Miami, Wawrinka was number three in the ATP rankings. Federer was number five. As we drove, Wawrinka talked about the state of the game and why it isnt really possible for young phenoms to break into the sports top rankings. They dont have the strength at that age, Wawrinka said. They dont have the maturity.
Posted on: Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:38:30 +0000
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