By Chris Oddo | Wednesday January 2, 2019
After a long, hard rehab Stan Wawrinka could finally be ready to unleash his best tennis on the tour in 2019.
Photo Source: Corleve
The tennis season kicks into high gear in rapid fashion in 2019 and already Stan Wawrinka appears ready to do some damage—potentially as early as this week and certainly by the time the Australian Open rolls around in 11 days.
Wawrinka has already notched back-to-back wins against Karen Khachanov and Nicolas Jarry in Doha, and he’s set to square off against Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarterfinals at the Qatar Total Open.
Clearly questions still remain about the potency of Wawrinka’s comeback, which now enters its second season. The Swiss had a hefty double surgery on his left knee late in 2017 and spent much of 2018 trying to get his fitness and his bearings.
At times he was successful.
Wawrinka managed a 17-17 record and won three matches in succession at Cincinnati and St. Petersburg in the second half of 2018. None of that is anything to write home about for a three-time major champion and former World No.3, but given the serious nature of Wawrinka’s injury, it’s easy to see why an instant march back up the rankings was simply not in the cards.
Though Wawrinka begins the season at 66 in the world, it’s starting to look like a rise back into the Top 20 or even higher could be in the offing for 2018.
It isn’t just about the wins at the moment, it’s about what Wawrinka and coach Magnus Norman have been building together since the mid-point of the 2018 season.
Norman, clearly bristling at the new challenge of reshaping Wawrinka’s post-surgery body and game, rejoined the team in 2018. Look far and wide and you’re likely not going to come up with a more esteemed tennis mind and motivational force. As they have done before, the pair appear to have made serious progress this off-season, where Wawrinka no doubt processed a lot of information from his initial comeback and put another layer of strength and added to range of motion and strength of the left knee.
Even better is the fact that the Swiss had the sense to end his season early (he was done after Shanghai in the second week of October) so that he could focus on what was essentially a second rehab of about two and a half months.
Wawrinka doesn’t just look good on court these days, he’s also talking a good game—something we didn’t see as he strove to keep expectations low in 2018.
“I was happy with the off-season I did,” Wawrinka said recently in Doha. “I worked long and really hard, hard enough to know that sooner or later it will pay off. I have been practicing so well, I have been working really hard the last two months to know that my level is there and that if I look at the big picture, the full year, I will get some results if I keep working hard. So today (his victory over Khachanov) I think was a great start. The level was there. I was feeling good physically on the court and I'm happy with that, that's the most important.”
The uptick in Wawrinka’s confidence could be a leading indicator for his results. The Swiss may have been unable to reel off multiple wins in succession on a regular basis in 2018, but if he does indeed feel as fit and fabulous as he says (he certainly looks menacing on court and shows no apparent sign that the knee ails him in the slightest), he should be able to reclaim his place as one of the five most lethal players in tennis when he’s firing on all cylinders.
There’s one thing we must consider when it comes to Wawrinka: This is one of the greatest players of his generation, hands down. And if there’s anything we’ve learned from the greats of this generation in the last few seasons, it’s that we cannot count them out. Roger Federer needed time to recover from his own knee difficulties in 2016. Once he did he reeled off three majors out of five and reached No.1. Novak Djokovic was an absolute thunderbolt in the second half of 2018 after a year of injury woes—when the tides turn for great players they tend to turn swiftly, and it could be Wawrinka’s time for tide to turn.
On the subject of whether or not Wawrinka is a great player there can be no doubt…
Wawrinka racked up a major title per year from 2014 to 2016, and he’s still young enough (34 in late march) to pick up another. The Swiss is the quintessential late bloomer, winning the 2014 Australian Open on his 36th appearance at a major and then proceeding to turn the tennis world on its year by reaching the semis or better at eight majors out of 14.
Who could forget the ubiquitous image of Wawrinka pointing to his temple after big points during those times?
It was during those years that the Big 4 became the Big 5, and Wawrinka became a legitimate household name and certain Hall of Famer, known not just for his jaw-dropping backhand but also his mental toughness, game-changing aggression, and big-match prowess.
There’s no guarantee that Wawrinka can get back to where he was at the height of his powers in those seasons, but unlike Andy Murray, who still seems to need six months—maybe more—to truly be fit, Wawrinka looks ready to push for big things in 2019.
In other words, like his tattoo portends, Wawrinka is once again ready to “fail better” in 2019.
“I think I worked hard the last two months, not only last two months since my injury, but it was a tough year last year,” Wawrinka said. “I finished it earlier. I wasn't where I wanted to be. But I took the time to get there. I took the time to do the right thing, to work hard physically, tennis-wise also. I'm happy the way I'm playing and the way I'm moving and practicing and I know that if I keep pushing in that direction, the year can be good for me.”
As 2019 kicks off in style, keep a close eye on Wawrinka in Doha. This is not the player we watched struggle to find comfort on court in 2018. This is a revamped elite talent and a physical presence that is itching to assert himself on the tour’s top players once again.