Wawrinka Pleased With Mentally Tough Battle

The backhand was beautiful, as always. But what impressed Stan Wawrinka the most about his 6-7(6), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-1 Roland Garros semi-final victory on Friday against Andy Murray was his mental toughness and the fight he showed against the top seed.

Wawrinka fell behind two sets to one after Murray answered the Swiss star’s impressive second set by taking the third set. But Wawrinka, who had lost to Murray during the 2016 Roland Garros semi-finals, stayed in the match and squeaked out the fourth set tie-break. Wawrinka then ran away with the fifth set to reach his second Roland Garros title match.

Four hours. Five sets. One victor.

How @stanwawrinka got revenge on Murray.#RG17 pic.twitter.com/yXhXQv73mn

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 9, 2017

“I think it was mentally a tough battle today, especially in five sets against Andy. It was a little bit windy, so it’s not always easy to play your best tennis. But I’m happy with what I did on the court, the way I was fighting, even if I was down. The way I was trying to keep my line, trying to keep being aggressive, keep going even if I lost a lot of points by some incredible defence from him,” Wawrinka said.

“For sure it wasn’t easy to be two sets to one down. When you play a player like Andy Murray, you know that you can dominate the games, but he’s still going to be there. He’s still going to do incredible defence, play the right tennis in the right moment. That’s why he’s No. 1 in the world. So when you enter in a Grand Slam against him, you have to accept that. You need to keep trying to focus on what you do.”

In a way, Wawrinka did what he’s done all fortnight-long in Roland Garros – shut down outside distractions and focus only on the point ahead of him. The Swiss star said it’s as if he becomes a different player at times during big matches or at big tournaments.

“That is why I have been able to win Grand Slam tournaments and other tournaments and play great matches when I had to. Mentally, when I arrive on a big tournament or in a big match, it’s like closing, switching off everything in my body except my brain, which I put in winning mode,” Wawrinka said. “Of course, I can lose, but I think I’m extremely confident about what I do, about how I feel, about all the hard work I have accomplished over the past days, weeks, months, years. I know that mentally when I’m there, it’s difficult to beat me.”

The 32 year old is a perfect 3-0 in Grand Slam finals. Wawrinka beat Rafael Nadal during the 2014 Australian Open final, and the right-hander beat Novak Djokovic for the 2015 Roland Garros title and the 2016 US Open crown.

Wawrinka will put his perfection on the line against Nadal’s Roland Garros perfection when they meet for the 2017 Roland Garros crown. Nadal is 9-0 in Roland Garros finals and is trying to become the first man or woman in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam 10 times.

“I think to play Rafa on clay [at Roland Garros] in a final is probably the biggest challenge you can have in tennis. He’s the best player ever on clay. He’s going for his 10th Roland Garros, so it’s something really impressive, something tough. It’s for sure going to be really difficult. But again, at the end of the day, it’s the final. The pressure is on both players. No one goes on the court thinking he has no pressure. We both want to win the title, and we both are going to give it all on the court,” Wawrinka said. “He’s for sure going to be the favourite with what he’s done in the past… We will see what’s going to happen on Sunday.”