Stanislas Wawrinka - Rising Swiss Tennis Star

Personal life

The surname Wawrinka is of Polish descent but Stanislas is only Polish by ancestry. His father Wolfram is German, and his mother Isabelle is Swiss. Both work on a biodynamic farm helping handicapped people. Wawrinka's grandparents are Czech. Stanislas Wawrinka has one older brother Jonathan, who teaches tennis, and two younger sisters Djanaee and Naella, who are students and tennis players.

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.

Stanislas 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 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.

Wawrinka currently lives in Saint-Barthélemy (10 minutes from Lausanne). His hobbies include movies and music. He considers clay his best surface and the backhand his best shot. He has a 2–3 career Davis Cup singles record in three ties. He has been coached since age eight by Dimitri Zavialoff.

In the 2007 Australian Open, Stanislas 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 Ljubicic to four sets before falling in the second round. He also claimed wins over Guillermo Canas 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).

Commercial Endorsements

Wawrinka's corporate sponsors include adidas, Head, and Hublot Genève.

He currently plays using Head's Flexpoint Prestige Midplus tennis racquet.