Stan Wawrinka was recently interviewed by the Argentine newspaper Olé, before the first round of the ATP tournament in Buenos Aires, a match won by the 3-time Slam champion in three sets.
The Swiss was asked what the differences were in facing the Big 3 Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, especially considering he has beaten them all at least three times.
“I think they each have a different style of play. Rafa is left-handed and the matches with him are very tough. It’s physically and mentally difficult to play against him. Roger is a faster athlete, which makes you feel uncomfortable on the court, and Novak is the perfect player, the way he played.
I had the chance to beat them on multiple occasions but lost to all three many times. For me it has always been a great opportunity to play against the best in the history of tennis. Even if I lost to them, it was still a challenge. It’s always something special to play with them,” explained Wawrinka.
Wawrinka, a career in the same Era of the Big 3
The 38-year-old is starting to feel the weight of age and a new generation of athletes advancing, but he doesn’t intend to give up. After losing his debut at the Australian Open, the tennis player born in 1985 made an unusual choice to continue the season: returning to South America to play on clay, starting from Buenos Aires where he had not been present since 2013.
Three Grand Slam titles, the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games and a series of unforgettable battles against the Big Three. This was Stan Wawrinka’s career on the ATP Tour.
The Swiss tennis player, who has been professional for over 20 years, has had to push himself quite a bit during his adventure on the tour to try to excel and achieve important goals: the dominance of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic has really left crumbs to all the rest of the players, but the native of Lausanne never gave up and managed to get some satisfactions over the years.
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