Wawrinka: 'Roger Federer's game is a completely different style'

Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka are close friends off the tennis court and have contributed a lot to Switzerland's success in recent years.

Federer and his fellow Swiss player Stan Wawrinka have played each other 26 times, with Federer leading 23–3. Federer leads 7–1 in Grand Slam tournaments, 17–0 on hard courts, 1–0 on grass courts and 5–3 on clay courts. The pair are 1–1 in finals. Their first meeting in a final came at 2014 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters where Wawrinka defeated Federer in three sets to win his first Masters 1000 title before Federer avenged his loss at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open by beating him in the final.

While the rivalry is one-sided in Federer's favour, the two have contested some close matches. Wawrinka defeated Federer in straight sets during the 2015 French Open quarterfinals en route to winning his first French Open title, although Federer then won a straight-sets victory in the 2015 US Open semifinals.

Other close matches include the 2012 Shanghai Masters and the 2013 Indian Wells Masters, both of which Federer won in three sets, the 2014 Wimbledon quarterfinal, which Federer won in four sets, the 2014 ATP World Tour Final semifinal, which Federer won in three sets after saving four match points, and the 2017 Australian Open semifinal, which Federer won in five sets. 

During a recent chat, Chris Evert asked him who he thinks is the best tennis player ever. “Roger Federer is the best player ever so far. He’s been winning everything, beating everybody. He’s better than the other players and better than me. His game is a completely different style. He puts you under pressure all the time, he’s so aggressive, changes the pace a lot" - Wawrinka said.

'Stanimal' did not forget about Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic: “I have difficulties to return the ball well against Rafa because of the spin he hits and the lefty serve. Novak is the one that I like to play the most, even if I’ve lost to him many times.  Even though I have beaten both of them they are still better than me.”

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3eOoJD4