Stan Wawrinka highly cherishes wins against friend Novak Djokovic in Grand Slam finals
Stan Wawrinka has opened up about rivalry with Novak Djokovic, who he considers among his friends on tour. While Wawrinka, like many others, has experienced the challenge of facing the Serbian great, two of his three Grand Slam singles titles came with wins over Djokovic in the final.
Wawrinka cherishes the memories of those matches as "highlights of my life."
The Swiss star beat the Serbian in the 2015 French Open final for his second Grand Slam title and then again in the 2016 US Open final for his third Major title. He is thus the only player apart from Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray to beat Djokovic in at least two Grand Slam singles finals.
As both players get set to compete at the Srpska Open in Banja Luka this week, Stan Wawrinka reflected on their memorable matches.
"I consider Novak a friend," Wawrinka said, as per SrpskaOpen.org. "It’s always been a tremendous challenge to play against him. I did win some of our Grand Slam finals and I cherish those memories as several highlights of my life."
Wawrinka, who has six wins in 26 matches on tour against the 22-time Grand Slam champion, could meet him in the Round of 16 at the Srpska Open later this week. However, the Swiss player wants to take things one step at a time.
"First I have to win the match against the young French player in order to advance to the second round. I hope to win and then we can talk about Novak," Wawrinka said when asked of a potential clash with Djokovic.
Wawrinka will face Luca Van Assche in the first round.
Novak Djokovic will end his career in tennis as the best player of all time: Stan Wawrinka
Stan Wawrinka also shared his views on Novak Djokovic's place in the GOAT debate, expressing his belief that if results and numbers were to be taken into consideration, the Serbian player should be regarded as the greatest tennis player of all time.
"It always depends on what you look at. If you take into account the results and all parameters, I believe that Novak will end his career in tennis as the best player of all time," Wawrinka stated.
The two players last faced each other in the Round of 16 of the 2022 Italian Open and the Serbian star won 6-2, 6-2 en route to the title. Four of Wawrinka's six wins against the 10-time Australian Open champion have come at Grand Slam tournaments. However, the World No. 1 holds a 6-2 head-to-head lead in their matches on clay.