He considers clay his best surface, and his backhand his best shot. He won the gold medal for Switzerland in the men's doubles event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, partnering Roger Federer, by beating Swedish team Simon Aspelin/Thomas Johansson in the final. They were also honoured with the 2008 Swiss Team of the Year Award.
John McEnroe believes Wawrinka has one of the most powerful backhands he has ever seen and describes him as having "the best one-handed backhand in the game today".
Contents
* 1 Career
* 2 Personal life
* 3 Commercial endorsements
* 4 Major finals
o 4.1 Olympic finals
+ 4.1.1 Doubles: 1 (1 gold medal)
o 4.2 Masters finals
+ 4.2.1 Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)
* 5 Career finals
o 5.1 Singles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runner-ups)
o 5.2 Doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)
* 6 Singles performance timeline
* 7 References
* 8 External links
Career
Wawrinka stopped attending regular schooling at age 15 to focus full-time on tennis. However, he continued his schooling by distance education with French organization "CNED", which offered him greater flexibility with studying times.
Wawrinka started playing international junior events at age 14 and entered the satellite circuit the following year. He compiled an outstanding junior career, winning the 2003 French Open junior championships and finishing as the number 14 junior.
Wawrinka, one of four tennis-playing siblings, turned pro in 2002 at the age of 17. By the end of 2005 he hovered just outside the Top 50. He has a 2–3 career Davis Cup singles record in three ties. He was coached from age eight until June 2010 by Dimitri Zavialoff.
In the 2007 Australian Open, Wawrinka reached the 3rd round to be beaten by second seed Rafael Nadal. He has so far never beaten Nadal, losing in Melbourne 6–2 6–2 6–2. He showed some impressive backhand skills, but was unable to deal with Nadal's heavy game.
In October 2006, Wawrinka reached a career high No. 29 and had high hopes to reach the Top 20 in 2007. But those plans were put on hold when he suffered a three-month setback, tearing a tendon in his right knee while practicing for the Swiss Davis Cup team's tie against Spain in February.
In the 2007 French Open, Wawrinka pushed No. 7 seed Ivan Ljubičić to four sets before falling in the second round. He also claimed wins over Guillermo Cañas and Juan Ignacio Chela en route to a meeting with Rafael Nadal in the finals of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart in July. There, Nadal edged the Swiss in straight sets, 6–4, 7–5.
In the 2007 US Open, Wawrinka reached the fourth round, a stage he had never reached previously in a Grand Slam event, notably defeating 25th seed Marat Safin (6–3 6–3 6–3) in an amazing show of talent in the second round. There, he was ousted by Juan Ignacio Chela at the end of an impressive 3h40 match (4–6, 6–2, 7–6 [6], 1–6, 6–4).
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas WawrinkaStanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka
