The Other Swiss Tennis Player

Question: What is Switzerland famous for?

Answer: The Alps, its beautiful crystal lakes, chocolate (yum yum!) and the multiple languages spoken there.

Of course it can now also add a famous tennis player to that list.

But apart from Roger Federer there are a few other names that come to mind when thinking about Swiss tennis. Martina Hingis is, of course, another well-known Swiss tennis champion. And then there is Patty Schnyder who is still playing on the women’s circuit.

But I think that one more name could possibly be added to that list in the future. Yes, I’m having a The Other Boleyn Girl type moment. Except that I’m talking about The Other Swiss Tennis Player.

His name? Stanislas Wawrinka. (Stan for short.)

The No.2 Swiss player is likely to have caught most people’s attention after winning the Olympic Gold medal with Monsieur Federer in the tennis doubles at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Remember that weird ritual-type thing Stan and Roger did after they won? I believe that Roger said he was pretending to warm up his hands on Stan who was “on fire”. Yeah, I know, even world champions can be weird at times.

Anyway, Stan certainly caught my attention that day and I have been interested in watching his progress ever since.

After all, can you imagine being another male Swiss tennis player right now? Walking in someone else’s shadow is to put it mildly! So I think we should all learn a bit more about him…

Here are a few vital details (courtesy of the ATP World Tour website www.atpworldtour.com):

DOB: 28/03/1985 (24 years of age)

Birthplace: Lausanne, Switzerland

Residence: St Barthelemy, Switzerland

Height: 6’0’’

Weight: 174 lbs

Plays: Right-handed

Turned Pro: 2002

If you are wondering about the surname, Stan is descended from Polish ancestry. His father is German and his mother is Swiss. He has three siblings, one of whom teaches tennis and the others are both students and tennis players. Must run in the family, huh?!

Stan was a relatively late-starter as far as tennis is concerned; he only began playing at the age of eight.

His current ranking is No.16 in the world but was as high as No.9 in 2008. Stan’s weapon of choice is his backhand (which is one-handed—maybe it is a Swiss trait?!) and his favoured surface is the red dirt. In fact, he was the French Open Junior Champion in 2003.

Although not at an all-time career high as far as his ranking is concerned, Stan’s year has been pretty impressive nonetheless as far as I’m concerned.

Let’s cast our minds back to as recently as the Indian Wells and Miami tournaments.

Although Stan was by no means a big news story in America as far as Men’s Tennis was concerned (what with Juan Martin del Potro taking out Raphael Nadal in the quarters in Miami and then Roger having a racket-smashing episode against Novak Djokovic in the semis of the same tournament) he definitely produced some solid results.

In Indian Wells he made it to the fourth round of the tournament, beating both Andreas Seppi and Sam Querry on his way. In fact, he even saved two match points in his match against Querry.

Unfortunately for him, his opponent in the fourth round was Novak, the world No.3. Although Stan has had two wins out of the seven times he has met the Djoker, he has never won any in, what I call, the ‘biggies’ (i.e. the ATP Masters events).

However, the match in California was definitely an interesting watch and I found myself urging Stan on. It is always fun to cheer for the underdog (except, in my case, when they’re playing against Roger) and especially one who puts up a good fight.

And Stan certainly did put up a good fight. Although he eventually lost, it was by no means a walk-over. The final score line read 7-6, 7-6. In my opinion, the fact that Stan could stand toe-to-toe with someone like Novak says a lot about the quality of his play. He was not overwhelmed by the occasion and gave it his best shot. It is what I term “a loss which you can be proud of”. 

What must have been frustrating for Stan is that Novak went on to lose to Andy Roddick in the next round in a very lethargic manner. However, Roddick also had to witness Federer do the same thing to him in Miami. Roger beat him and then went on to self-destruct against Novak in the Miami tournament. The phrase ‘swings and roundabouts’ comes to mind. But I am drifting off my point.

Back to Stan…and a very similar story emerged for him in Miami. Again he reached the fourth round of the tournament and again he met a very highly ranked tennis player. The world No.1 to be exact. In this match Stan forced Rafa (just as he did Novak) to work hard to earn the match. Although Stan lost, he did so again in two tiebreakers (7-6, 7-6). And this was against the best of the best.

Another notable performance was given by Stan in this year’s Davis Cup tie between Switzerland and the USA. After Federer pulled out of the tie because of a back injury, Stan became the lead player for his country.

Stan managed to pull off the only win for his team, beating James Blake in four sets. Unfortunately, he could not overcome the American’s lead player, Andy Roddick, losing to him in straight sets. However, the Swiss team were never going to be the favourites once they lost their top player to injury, and Stan ensured that the result was not a complete white-wash.

Although Stan only reached the third round at the Australian Open this year, his Slam results have been steadily improving. His best results came in 2008, where he made the fourth round at both Wimbledon and the US Open, and the third round of the French.

Since his favoured surface is the red stuff, it should be interesting to see what kind of results he can produce as we enter the clay season. Could he possibly go on to win the French Open and put the “senior” trophy beside his “junior one”? I highly doubt it. But he may have a good chance of getting to the latter stages of some of the clays tournaments as long as he doesn’t run into a certain Spaniard on the way.

With Roger and Novak going through some tough times of late, and some of the other top players not favouring the dirt, (two players named Andy come to mind) the clay season is a bit more “open”. Of course, Stan will have to watch out for the Spanish and Argentinean players who traditionally enjoy playing on this surface. In particular, he may have to watch out for Verdasco and Del Potro.

Interestingly, Stan may have to play his fellow Swiss player and friend, Roger Federer, very soon in the first clay tournament of the season, the Monte Carlo Masters event. On Sunday Stan beat Viktor Troicki in the first round of the tournament and if both he and Roger win their second round matches they will meet each other in the third round.

Will Stan be able to beat the world No.2? Again, I highly doubt it. Roger showed no mercy to the friend who helped him achieve his lifelong ambition of winning an Olympic gold medal when they played earlier in the year. Roger downed his opponent 6-1, 6-3 in the final of the Kooyong Classic held in Australia in January of this year to take the title.

Whatever happens in the upcoming clay season, Stan has already proven that he is a solid tennis player. It is yet to be seen whether he can take his tennis up a notch or two and establish himself as a steady top 10 player. 

He has not yet reached the age considered a male player’s “tennis prime” (i.e. he hasn’t yet hit 25 years of age) and therefore still has time to improve.

Who knows? Maybe we are looking at a Fernando Verdasco of the future? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

But whatever happens, never underestimate...the other Swiss tennis player.