Despite more self-confidence – Wawrinka expects a difficult starting match in Basel – Sport

Although the novel shows an upward trend, his opening opponent Adrian Mannarino doesn’t particularly suit him.

Just in time for his 17th Swiss Indoors participation, Stan Wawrinka is looking up again. The 39-year-old from Lausanne, who never won two games in a row for over a year, stormed into the semi-finals in Stockholm last week, moving up 48 places in the rankings and is now ranked 169th.

“Last week was very positive for self-confidence, victories like this are good,” admits Wawrinka. The quarterfinal victory over Andrei Rublev, number 7 in the world, was his best game this year.

But in Shanghai he played “much better” than before. At the ATP 1000 tournament, Wawrinka unfortunately had to bow to the Italian top 30 player Flavio Cobolli after a long fight. Now “I want to push a little bit at the end of the year,” announces the three-time Grand Slam winner.

Unpleasant opponent

On Wednesday Wawrinka will face French left-hander Adrian Mannarino (ATP 57). “He was always a bit difficult for me. The matches were close, I didn’t win often.” To be more precise: Wawrinka had to leave the field as a loser in all three direct duels, most recently at the Australian Open in January, where he was unable to take a 2-1 set lead.

The 39-year-old admits that the worst results this year have taken a toll on him. «There are always moments of doubt. But you have to accept that despite training and effort you can have difficult phases.”

No comeback after resignation

The oldest player on the tour has not made any concrete statements about his future as a professional. On the one hand, “the passion is intact. “I feel like continuing a bit,” said Wawrinka. On the other hand, he makes it clear that he is not willing to constantly rely on wild cards (like in Basel). “For that I need a good position in the ranking.”

Wawrinka then makes a few announcements: “I want to enjoy every moment. I will always fight, try to give the maximum and find solutions on the court. But once I stop, there’s no going back.”