While one Swiss tennis player is making inroads on the sport’s all-time records, another Swiss is just trying to become a mainstay in the top 30. Surely you know that Roger Federer is the first person I’m talking about.

But I’ll forgive you if you don’t know who the second player is. It’s Stanislas Wawrinka, and while he might not pop into your head as quickly as his compatriot does, Stan’s trying to change that with his results on the court.

Wawrinka started 2007 ranked No.30 in the world after having a breakthrough season the year before. For years, Wawrinka was only known by either complete tennis diehards or fans of the Swiss Davis Cup team, but in 2006, he started to gain some attention within the mainstream tennis world. He won his first (and only) career title in Umag, Croatia, beating Novak Djokovic in the final after the Serb had to retire due to injury. It probably wasn’t the way that Wawrinka envisioned winning his first tournament, but nevertheless, a Swiss won a title on tour – and for once it wasn’t Federer.

'The faster hard courts and indoor surfaces became the healing salve for Wawrinka’s game, starting in New Haven where he reached the quarter-finals'


Stan followed up Umag with third-round finishes at both the Cincinnati Masters as well as the US Open -  extremely encouraging results for someone whose only tournament victories (Challengers included) were on clay. During the indoor season, Wawrinka even made it to the semi-finals of the Basel tournament, to the delight of his home fans.

If he had beaten Fernando Gonzalez, it would have set up a showdown with Federer, but there were still many positives to take away from the event. After reaching No.29 for a short time, Wawrinka ended 2006 ranked 30, and with renewed confidence in his game heading into this year.

Tennis, as we all know, is a game that can change in an instant. For Wawrinka, his fortunes took a similar turn – for the worse. Stan started 2007 losing 11 of his first 14 matches, even dropping five matches in a row at one point. A finals appearance in Stuttgart (with no shame in losing to Rafael Nadal on dirt) was a welcome highlight after his discouraging start, but Stan then lost three of his next four matches, including a first-round loss at Umag. Suddenly, Wawrinka was heading into the final months of the season outside of the top 50.

Strangely, the faster hard courts and indoor surfaces became the healing salve for Wawrinka’s game, starting in New Haven where he reached the quarter-finals. The following week at the US Open, he reached the fourth round – his best result at a Grand Slam to date – before losing in five sets to Juan Ignacio Chela. Wawrinka’s improved play continued to show in Vienna earlier in October, where he reached his second final of the year – ironically losing to Djokovic, who got his revenge for Umag the year before.

This week in Paris, Wawrinka is continuing his comeback trail, as his ranking is nearly back to where it was when the year started. After losing to Nicolas Kiefer two weeks earlier at the Madrid Masters, Wawrinka defeated him this time around in straight sets, and did the same to Juan Ignacio Chela.

He faces Rafael Nadal in the third round, and while this match might be the end of the road for Stan, he can take solace that he’ll play Rafa on a much faster surface than his preferred clay. But no matter what the result, it’s evident that Wawrinka is staying persistent in his quest to succeed on tour, reminding us that there are other quality products from Switzerland than just watches, chocolate and Federer.

Three other AMS Paris thoughts:

Federer/Nalbandian II came together in an eerily similar fashion to Federer/Canas II earlier in the year. Canas upset Federer in Indian Wells, and the two had a rematch within two weeks in the very next Masters Series event (Miami). I don’t think Federer will let the same mistake happen twice, but Nalbandian has looked great so far in Bercy, winning all four of his sets 6-4 over good competition (Nicolas Almagro and Carlos Moya).

Fabrice Santoro’s win over Novak Djokovic made me take a double take; it still amazes me how the Frenchman can get so much out of his game. He has deceptive speed, even at 34. It was enough to take James Blake to a fifth set at the US Open, and I think Andy Murray will feel some frustration as well when they play in the third round.

Look for Marcos Baghdatis to emerge from the top-right quarter of the draw. He plays the defending champion Davydenko in the third round, but Baghdatis does his best on quicker surfaces as has looked much more comfortable of late, after an early exit from Flushing Meadows.

How do you see the late stages of the season working out? Post your comments below or submit an article to Sportingo.