Stan Wawrinka arrived in Australia unsure that he would be able to play in the Australian Open. So while the 2014 champion fell in the second round to Tennys Sandgren in the first Grand Slam championship of the season, the trip was not all a loss.
“I think the past 12 days was more than what I could have dreamt coming here. I really came without thinking I will be able to play the first match,” Wawrinka said. “That's a big step for me.”
Just more than five months ago, Wawrinka had two surgeries to repair a knee cartilage injury, the first by arthroscopy to look at the issue, and the next to reconstruct the cartilage. The former World No. 3 was on crutches for eight weeks.
“I think I'm way ahead of what I should be, that's for sure. That's why I need to be positive,” Wawrinka said. “I'm sure if I look really what happened the past 12 days, I can build a lot of confidence for the next few months because every day I was improving. Even today, my knee was feeling way better than two days ago. If I look at the big picture, I know it's really positive.”
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The three-time major champion was visibly struggling with his movement on Margaret Court Arena in his straight-sets loss against the American, but never thought about retiring.
“I was struggling with everything, not the knee especially. The knee was still handling well,” Wawrinka said. “As long as I enter the court, and I don't feel any big injury, I'm not going to retire. I was trying to fight. I knew it would be difficult to come back or to play better at the end. Again, I was here to fight and to try everything I could.”
And while Wawrinka is happy that he competed at all, losing is never easy.
“As an athlete, when you enter a court, you don't want to lose that way in the second round,” Wawrinka said. “You don't want to feel that way on the court. It's tough right now. As I say, I like to win. I don't like to lose, and not feeling that way.”
Wawrinka says that he will next play the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament and the Open 13 Marseille, both in February. But for now, there is one thing on his agenda.
“My plan is to leave here and go back to practice, back to practice, especially fitness-wise at the beginning, then both together with tennis,” Wawrinka said. “I know I have a lot of work to do. I need to be really patient. It's going to be tough. But I'm ready for it.”
