Wawrinka: ‘I’m Playing Really Well’

Stan Wawrinka got his St. Petersburg Open campaign off to a good start on Monday, battling past a tough Slovenian opponent, Aljaz Bedene, against whom he had lost once before. It wasn’t an easy match by any means, as Bedene served for the opening set. And it was another step in the right direction for the former World No. 3, whose form continues to improve after undergoing two left knee surgeries in August 2017.

“I think in general I’m playing really well,” Wawrinka said. “I think it’s getting there. I think I need to keep being patient, keep working really hard and well outside the matches because I know I need to keep doing the right things for the end of the year, try to gain some confidence and we’ll see what happens.”

It’s easy to see Wawrinka’s 14-14 record on the season and wonder whether he will return to his best form. But the 33-year-old is not looking far enough ahead to consider what ATP Ranking he wants to achieve by a certain date, or how many more titles he’d like to win.

“My goals are to finish this year well, I have a few more tournaments to play. I’ll keep working outside matches, I’ll keep pushing myself, keep trying to improve tennis-wise, physically. Also, I want to finish a good year and get a chance to do the right preparation, right offseason, push myself to be 100 per cent ready for the beginning of [next] year and then we’ll see,” Wawrinka said. “I never really put a goal of ranking, winning tournaments, things like that. I put a goal to do the right things day by day, because that’s the way I know that the results will follow.”

And while Wawrinka has not advanced to a semi-final since February, his level has certainly been improving. The Swiss owns three victories against Top 15 opponents in his past two tournaments. The 16-time tour-level champion’s past three losses have all come against top-tier opponents — Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and former World No. 3 Milos Raonic.

So Wawrinka is not in Russia to simply continue working on his game like he has been doing in practice. While he has not captured a title since triumphing in Geneva last May, he has one goal in mind.

“When I come to a tournament, it’s to win,” Wawrinka said. “It’s to win matches, to get confidence, the more you win, the better you start to play. It’s a long process, but I’m happy with today’s match. I’ve been practising enough… so I’m happy to play matches.”

Wawrinka will try to take another step forward in the second round against in-form Russian Karen Khachanov.