Stan Wawrinka the Swiss tennis legend and close friend of Roger Federer has been around and on the court for a long time and has seen Nadal’s insane skills from his own point of view.
The Swiss was quick to praise the Spanish Giant’s amazing comeback from 2 sets down to the current World No. 2 to win the match 3 sets to 2 and lift his 21st grand slam trophy ahead of his rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
“Whatever happens we cannot compare Nadal with other tennis players, that’s for sure,” Wawrinka said on L’Equipe’s Air Open podcast. “Nadal has been out for four, five or six months almost every two years of his career, and whether the injuries were serious or not, he always managed to come back.
“And once again at this stage and level, with the difficult last year that he had, of course, it’s exceptional, just like all his career. It was brilliant to watch his win. I wasn’t surprised but I admire that he is still able to do it and as I say I am not surprised because we know that he is well above everyone else.”
“He’s proved that he’s able to do things throughout his career that others can’t. Sometimes, I feel, tennis is all written in advance. Before Australian Open I was talking to my coach, Dani [Vallverdu] and we discussed that Nadal will win Australian Open, because everything is written.”
“We saw what happened to Nadal last year, a year full of injuries and it would have been impossible to say he will win Australian Open last year. But his win is a bit similar to that Federer’s in 2017 and he has written history”.
“There are a lot who forget this when they turn professional—they take tennis too much like work. “What motivates me and pushes me still is I tell myself I’m going to play—that I’m going to have fun.”