Stan The Man: Stanislas Wawrinka's Career-Defining Victory

Stanislas Wawrinka played the match of his life, albeit against a slumping Roger Federer.

However, one has to feel certain sense happiness for Wawrinka. Lets face it, it is not easy being the second best player in Switzerland.

Even his profile picture on a major tennis Web site includes Federer.

I have had the pleasure of watching Wawrinka play a few times in person and the man can play some tennis. He has clean strokes and good movement.

He gave Rafael Nadal a run for his money in a tight two-setter at Key Biscayne, and found himself in the Rome Masters finals last year against Novak Djokovic.

This is a well-rounded player, folks.

If I had to bet, I would venture to say that clay is Wawrinka’s favorite surface. Almost all of his titles have come on clay.

The win over Federer had to feel good. The former world No. 1 has been a mentor to him during his career. It was Federer who did Wawrinka a favor by playing doubles with him a few years back.

One has to wonder how Federer feels about doing that now.

After watching the match, it should be noted that Federer was on the attack, something that was a bit of a surprise, although he was most likely constructing a game plan for an onslaught in Paris.

To Wawrinka’s credit, he handled it well, taking the ball to Federer instead of allowing Federer to take it to him. His passing shots were deep and he played the margins very well, all things Federer pointed out in his press conference.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Wawrinka’s game has been the evolution of his forehand. Known to favor the backhand—it is a tremendous backhand, afterall—his forehand has come full circle, from a liability to an asset.

This will be key should he find himself on the same side of the draw as the No. 1 ranked Nadal, who knows how to exploit a weak forehand about as good as anyone on tour.

It will be interesting to see how Wawrinka's fitness holds up throught the season. Stories have surfaced that he took the entire month of February off to get into the best shape of his career.

Wawrinka has to be seen as threat on clay at the moment, and could make a nice run here during the clay season to better his current world No. 16 rank.

This could prove to be troublesome to the players in his way as he looks to make a name for himself.

For now Stan, bravo. Take a bow, you deserve it.