"As long as I feel competitive, I want to keep going" - Stan Wawrinka sets sights on one last trophy before embracing retirement
Stan Wawrinka might be 37 and nearing the twilight years of his tennis career. However, the Swiss has set one last goal for himself - to get his hands on a trophy once more.
The three-time Grand Slam champion isn't particular about what level tournament he wins, as long as he can see himself as a title winner again.
In an exclusive interview with ATPTour.com, Wawrinka admitted that his advanced age meant it was not as easy for him to push through tournaments as it used to be. However, the 16-time singles champion's competitiveness hasn't deserted him just yet.
He even declared that he has the self-belief to win a championship one last time.
"I feel competitive. I know that when I enter the court, most of the time I can beat my opponent. I’m not young anymore. Things are a bit more difficult also to keep going back-to-back-to-back days, to push through a tournament," Wawrinka said.
"But I still believe that I can win tournaments. I don’t know which level of tournament, but of course I want to win a trophy before stopping."
The former World No. 3 wants to keep going as long as he feels competitive on court, while also reminding people not to forget where they came from.
"As long as I feel competitive, I want to keep going. But it’s also to remind people not to forget where you come from and what was your dream when you were young," Stan Wawrinka said.
"It doesn’t matter if I won three Grand Slams, if I achieved way more than I could dream of. It still has to be special. If you want to keep pushing yourself after 30 and you want to still be passionate about that, things have to be special."
"After tennis, there are still so many years to do other stuff, so all together, I want to enjoy as much as possible" - Stan Wawrinka
Stan Wawrinka understood that at his age, it was no longer possible to stop for a while and then make a successful comeback, especially in a sport as demanding as tennis. Regardless, the Swiss considers himself "still really young" when it comes to other matters of everyday life.
"I think you need to see it as the big picture. The day you stop your sport there is no return. There is no way back, because it’s impossible to stop after 30 and then try to come back," Wawrinka said.
"It’s almost impossible, it’s so tough. And then you have to see [what is] also tough [is] I’m getting really old for my sport. [But] I’m still really young in my life."
Reiterating that it was a "privilege" to be a tennis player, Wawrinka looked forward to life post-retirement and enjoying all the things life had to offer, but not before he had given tennis everything he had.
"After tennis, there are still so many years to do other stuff, so all together, I want to enjoy as much as possible. It’s a privilege to be a tennis player. It’s a privilege to be playing at that level, to be playing in the biggest tournaments in the world," Stan Wawrinka said.
"As long as I’m feeling competitive with what I’m doing, that I feel like I can beat the top players, I’m enjoying that."