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BNP PARIBAS MASTERS PARIS

October 31, 2016

Stan Wawrinka

Paris, France

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Stan, how difficult is it to keep playing at your best at the end of a very long season?
STAN WAWRINKA: Yeah, it's never easy, for sure. But it's many years you try to do the right thing for yourself. I think in general I can still play really well. Only two tournaments left. I know what it takes to play well, but hopefully I can do it.

Q. And how do you think Djokovic has done it in the past for many years and Murray is doing it this year? How do they do it?
STAN WAWRINKA: If we all know, we would all do it. They're just different level of player since many, many years. What they did, not only Andy now and Novak in the past, but also Rafa, Roger, is just something special. That's why they are the top since more than ten years.

Q. Can I ask you, who do you think will be world No. 1 at the end of the year?
STAN WAWRINKA: Is going to be really interesting to see the last two tournaments. I don't have the answer, but I'm looking forward to see what's gonna be the result of Andy and Novak here and London.

Q. You have enjoyed lots of success in France even as a junior. Why do you think you're so successful in France?
STAN WAWRINKA: I had some great result for sure in France. Not only in France. I always enjoy to come back here. In France always had a good relation with the crowd and the people here. Always had some great support. So we'll see.

Q. And beating Novak in the US Open, does that give you confidence that in the future you could be the world No. 1?
STAN WAWRINKA: No. (Laughter.) But it gives me the confidence that I know I can beat him. I know it's not the first time. I know I beat all those guys, but not every time.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. After Basel, Stan, you said you were not sure you were going to play this week.
STAN WAWRINKA: I didn't say that, but...

Q. Sorry, then. But how do you feel right now?
STAN WAWRINKA: Well, after Basel I was a bit tired. I was hurting more or less, so when I was asked whether I was going to play, I said I was on the draw, but anyway, if I'm not injured I love playing this tournament. It's the last big tournament of the end of the year. Last year I played well here. I know I can do well, so my goal stays the same.

Q. As a player, how do you assess this excitement around the No. 1 position? It's good for this tournament, but we didn't expect that after the French Open. What do you think about it?
STAN WAWRINKA: Well, it's interesting for us, too. It's been a bit more than a year that we feel Andy is coming close, close to Novak.

And after the French Open, there was still a big gap, but Andy makes the finals almost every time since at least one year. So what he's doing here in the end of the season is even more impressive.

So really it's going to be interesting to see those two tournaments coming up. As a player, I think it's going to be rather nice to see if they are going to be able to come closer. Novak just lost three matches in three tournaments. People talk.

But for the rest, he always won. So I think he's going to be tough to beat here. And Andy, too.

Q. But you played Novak at the US Open. You saw he was not quite the same player.
STAN WAWRINKA: At the US Open, it was a very special tournament even for him. He was injured just before he started the tournament having not really played before.

He had a tough match against GaÃ«l Monfils. I didn't think he's different. I think as soon as he's going to be motivated again, he's going to be very difficult to beat. His level of game is there. He plays at a very high level.

Since the French Open, he lost one match in Wimbledon. He won Toronto. He won one match in the Olympics, final in US Open, and lost one match in Shanghai. So it's not many losses.

So I don't believe suddenly he's going to totally give up in the end of the season or next year.

Q. Do you have enough energy left to do something big either here or London?
STAN WAWRINKA: I hope so. I'm convinced I can do something, but it's still a very difficult challenge, and we'll see what happens in the next days here. And also we have time. We have a whole week between here and London, so we will have time to prepare well for London, too.

Q. When Novak said he lost the enjoyment of tennis and he was not motivated as much, are you surprised hearing that?
STAN WAWRINKA: I'm not surprised. It can be explained by all the achievements he did in the past year, not only in tennis and out of tennis, too. So it's a bit normal that he can have a few months where he's not as motivated as usual. And, of course, in those cases, you lose some matches that you wouldn't have lost before.

But then after that, when Andy is starting to win all the tournaments he's playing, then it makes a difference.

We are saying Novak is in a crisis, but he's still No. 1 and, at worst, still finish No. 2, top 2, so the crisis is okay, no?

Q. A different question. Last time you played here on Court No. 1, which is very small court with the crowd very close to the players, do you remember how it was? How was the experience playing there?
STAN WAWRINKA: Last year, I don't remember. I'm not sure it was last year. I think it was the year before in 2014. But I played many matches on that particular court. It's very small. There are not many people there. But it never bothered me. I always liked playing here, anyway.

Q. And when the crowd is close to the players, do you like it?
STAN WAWRINKA: Yes. In those tournaments sometimes you have smaller courts with the crowd very close, but there were not many people, anyway.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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