LONDON, November 19, 2016
Stan Wawrinka lost his last round robin match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals to Andy Murray on Friday afternoon. Consequently, the 31-year-old Swiss failed to qualify for the knock-out stages at the O2 for the first time in his fourth appearance.
“I think he (Murray) was serving really well, especially playing good after the serve. He didn’t give me many chances, especially at the beginning,” Wawrinka told on Friday. “He made me hesitating a little bit with my game, when to go, when to stay back. That’s why he’s so good. That’s why he’s No. 1. He’s in full confidence. He’s playing the right things. For me it was tough. Tough score also. I think I was starting well, but few little things can make a big difference against a player like him.”
Wawrinka will finish as Swiss No. 1 for the first time in his career after Federer’s 15-year-reign from 2001 to 2015. The current World No. 3 captured four titles this year, lifting the trophies in Chennai, Dubai, Geneva as well as the US Open.
“I think it was an amazing season. Going to finish No. 4, No. 5 in the world, with one Grand Slam, with other titles as well. It was really important for me to win at home in Geneva. Some tough other results, for sure. Here wasn’t the best tournament, but I still fought until the end. I think after US Open it was tough. There are many thing I can improve but in general, the season was amazing for me. I won a Grand Slam, plus finish in the top five. That’s something I would have signed before starting the season, that’s for sure.”
After Wawrinka’s triumph at the US Open, the Swiss had some inconsistent results.
“I think tennis is tough emotionally. It’s a rollercoaster during the year for the emotion, for your brain. When you go that high, especially by winning New York, after that it’s not always simple. But that’s part of a tennis player’s life. You need to find the way how to make it positive. I think the bad result wasn’t because of that. It was for different reason, but not because of that. The motivation was really high.”
Asked about, who will now win the title in London, he said: “For me Novak and Andy are at the same level. I think it’s going to be a really interesting weekend with some really good semi-final matches tomorrow and hopefully an amazing final. It will be interesting and amazing to finish with a final Andy against Novak.”
