Stan Wawrinka believes that Andy Murray has had the far better career to date despite the fact that the two players have each won two major titles. Speaking after his quarterfinal victory over Albert Ramos-Vinolas on Wednesday, Wawrinka praised Murray for the depth of his achievements and for his vastly improved clay-court game.
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“I think he is well ahead of me,” Wawrinka said, when asked if he felt that Murray and himself had evolved and developed in a similar way. “Now that I've won a second Grand Slam people say I'm closer to him because I have won two and he's won two as well.”
Wawrinka says it’s the breadth of Murray’s accomplishments, and his No. 2 ranking that sets the pair apart.
“If you were to compare our two careers he's well ahead of me given all the titles, the finals, No. 2 in the world, and he has so many Masters 1000, as well,” Wawrinka said. “Therefore, as I kept on repeating, you know, he's in the Big 4. You know, there is a reason for this. Maybe he has fewer titles, fewer titles than the other big 3, but he's always been with them during the semis, the finals. His career is very, very impressive.”
Wawrinka, who has won his last three matches against Murray but trails in the career head-to-head by a deficit of 8-7, says Murray’s clay-court tennis has also improved by leaps and bounds.
“I think even before when he wasn't a clay-court player he was making semifinal here, making some quite good result here at the French Open when he was mentally really there,” Wawrinka said. “I'm not really surprised [by his success]. I think he's amazing player since many, many years. He always try to improve his game, always try to be a better player. The way he improved on clay is quite impressive, because now he's winning a lot of tournaments, big title. He beat Novak in the final in Rome.”
Wawrinka isn’t ruling himself out against Murray by any means, in fact the Swiss says that winning the title last year at Roland Garros has actually make him feel less pressure this year.
“I think it give me more confidence, for sure, and less pressure, because I won it,” he said. “So I have a different mentality this year. I'm feeling way better.”
Wawrinka says he’s also enjoying the heavy conditions in Paris this week. “In general I quite like the condition here in Paris,” he said on Wednesday after his quarterfinal win. “For sure condition like today, for me, it's still good. I can still hit through the ball; I can still make some winner.”
Murray, meanwhile, says he’s happy that he had the chance to face a one-handed backhand that is nearly as lethal as Wawrinka’s in his quarterfinal. “They obviously have some similarities, but Stan probably hits a flatter ball,” Murray said. “Richard plays with quite a lot of height and spin. Stan definitely plays a bit flatter off his forehand and can hit his backhand flat, as well has a bigger serve. But there are similarities there, for sure. At least I got used to playing against a single-hander today who can use the angles, change the direction up the line. So for that it was good preparation, but Stan definitely serves a little bit bigger. Not sort of—not like Richard is easy to break, but Stan is a tough guy to break when he's serving well.”