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ROLAND GARROS

May 28, 2018

Stan Wawrinka

Paris, France

G. GARCIA-LOPEZ/S. Wawrinka

6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Already in the first set you asked for a medical timeout. Can you tell us how it feels and how the progress is of your knee injury?
STAN WAWRINKA: Yeah, I think my knee -- my knee is fine. My knee is good. I blocked something else at the beginning of the first set, and that's why I had to ask, because it was completely blocked.

But since the physio just manipulate a little bit and it was completely fine.

Q. So it's completely unconnected to your previous injury?
STAN WAWRINKA: Yeah, yeah, completely. So that's the positive of today (smiling).

Q. And now no aftereffect at all that you can tell?
STAN WAWRINKA: No, no. As I say, my knee is good. I'm happy with that. That's really positive to see, but it's been now a few weeks that I'm feeling great with that sort of injury I did. So that's good.

I'm in the right way, and I need to keep pushing.

Q. When it happened, you must have thought, For God's sake, not again?
STAN WAWRINKA: No, because I knew the feeling. I know exactly what I have. I knew -- I realized that something was blocked but was not at all something about the same knee, about my knee. Was something completely on the side.

So I just wanted to fix it, because was really strange pain.

Q. If you look at the ranking, in two weeks you will be in a place that's very unusual for you. How do you start to fight back from that?
STAN WAWRINKA: Well, you start to win matches. Simple as that. You practice well and you get your level back and you win matches, and in a few months you're back up to your level if you play well. That's as simple as that.

You know, when you're out on the tour because of injury, that's for sure your ranking will drop no matter what, because you didn't play.

But for me, that's not the most important.

Q. How frustrating has it been this year, whole year, like coming back and maybe too early to come back, fight back, it must be very hard mentally?
STAN WAWRINKA: Well, there is no frustration. It's just tough. But again, I knew from the beginning that it will take a long, a lot of time to get back. I knew that from the surgery that it will take a year at least to get where I want to be.

It's tough mentally, because there is no, since the first day, there is no day off, like that you feel that you don't push yourself.

So that's the most difficult part, but again, I think I'm on the right way. I'm playing well. The knee is keeping up and physically I start to be stronger every day. So I need to keep pushing myself to get where I want to be.

Q. After Wimbledon, I think you'll now require a wildcard to enter future tournaments this year. How do you feel about the current ATP schedule and the ranking system and how that can potentially affect you this year?
STAN WAWRINKA: Well, for me, I don't -- the system is good. I think all I say all my career is that the ranking doesn't lie. If you play you are at the top. If you don't play, you're getting down. For sure, I'm going to require some wildcard. But again, if I have to play some challenger, I have no problem with that.

I know exactly where I want to be. I won three Grand Slams in my career and I know what it takes to do it. And my goal is to get to my top. Sooner or later I will be.

Today I lose, for sure now we are talking a lot about the ranking, because that's what's gonna happen with that match. But at the end of the day, if I look my level, I'm closer from where I want to be than the ranking.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. What is the most important after that, because you weren't that far? You came back in the fourth set, you were maybe closer to that level. Are you disappointed or where do you stand?
STAN WAWRINKA: As I said, there is a lot of positive things, but what dominates mainly is mental tiredness, really. It's disappointing to lose a match when you're so close to winning.

I know I could win; my physical and mental level is almost there. I was very close today. So nevertheless, at the same time, I haven't played a match to the best-of-five sets in one year. So even when you're practicing, you can't play with that pressure.

So there's things I still have to accept, things I haven't been able to do in practice yet. I'll be able to do it in the next few weeks to do some physical training, several sessions a day, plus practicing my tennis.

So there are still things that I'm missing for me. But to say the truth, I expected it to be difficult. I'm obviously disappointed to lose in the first round when I was so close, but I'm much closer to where I want to be than before.

Q. One question, coming back to your ranking, did you have the possibility of blocking your ranking? Can you explain the regulations? Because you didn't play for six months.
STAN WAWRINKA: Honestly, no, I can't explain, because I didn't look at it. I didn't look at that.

I was too concerned about what I wanted to do. I don't know the exact rules. I don't know. Maybe I could look at the ranking of last year. What I will do is ask for a few wildcards. I might get a few.

But most important thing is to come back to the right level to be in the tournaments.

Q. You had quite a lot of opportunities in the fourth set. You had three break points. In the fifth set did you block physically or mentally because you had let these opportunities pass?
STAN WAWRINKA: Already in the fourth set I was starting to be in trouble physically much more than I probably showed. But the fifth set is not the disappointment with opportunities, because I put that aside. It was more the difficulty of continuing to go for it mentally. As I said, it's very difficult, especially when you see you're somewhat behind physically.

Throughout my career I have been fighting to be strong enough for these type of matches, but today it's more complex. My tennis is pulling or pushing my physical status, but I haven't been able to do the physical preparation that I'm used to up till now.

I will be allowed to do it in the coming weeks, and that is the problem, because I'm not at the level I could be.

But mentally, obviously, it's difficult at some points, as I said. And on the first day where I left my crutches, it was difficult. In your career you tend to warm up. You tend to be on automatic pilot and continue training, but when you come back from a major injury, it's never the same.

Every day you have to do something more. It takes time and uses a lot of energy.

Q. When are you going to decide whether you will play on grass or not?
STAN WAWRINKA: Well, it's already decided. I always said I would try anyway, whatever happens. I'm not going to pull back from grass if I haven't tested my knee yet. But in view of how I played lately, I don't see any contraindication to playing on grass.

Q. You came back to the Australian Open. Then in March you changed your mind. Do you think you made bad decisions in your choice of return? What about the choice for Roland Garros?
STAN WAWRINKA: Well, honestly, coming back in Australia was absolutely essential. As I already explained, after my surgery it was important. And the physicians pushed me to do it, to test the implant, to test my knee.

Even though I was far from being back in the season, but morally and physically I had to check if my level disappeared completely. It was important for me not to disappear. But maybe I was overly positive and I just hoped things would improve faster, which wasn't the case, because it takes time, which is why I also decided not to play later on.

But thinking of Roland Garros, at present I'm playing well, I feel good, and I'm ready to play matches and win matches. Obviously today I lost in five sets. I lose all my points. I'm going to drop in the ranking. So there is a very negative aspect to that.

But meanwhile, I was playing Garcia-Lopez, who is a very good player. I already lost against him in the past when I was 100%. I played very well in Lyon against him. I was very close to winning.

So I know that I'm much closer to what I'm aiming for than in the past.

Q. It was a good fight. Did you also appreciate being back in this tournament and being able to fight like that with the will to do everything to come back?
STAN WAWRINKA: Yes, I did appreciate coming back to Roland Garros, especially on the Lenglen court in a tournament where, for the past three years, I played my best tennis. That is clear and obvious.

Anyway, I know that what I have been doing since I was injured, all the efforts I make, and no one sees it. It's to live through moments like this. And I hope there will be several victories after that.

Q. Magnus was with you, and now we talked about the ranking issue, which is obviously going to impact maybe not the next few weeks but the rest of the summer. Have you talked about that yet with him? Did you make a decision? How is it going?
STAN WAWRINKA: No. We're going to talk about it now. The idea is to continue together, obviously if we both want to. But we will have to see the program, and we're taking things in stride. No stress on either side. We do things with our pace.

Q. Some players who are severely injured get a psychological support when they go back to sports. Did you get such support? Did you need it?
STAN WAWRINKA: No. It has happened to me several times in my career to go for psychological support, but this time it wasn't the case. I do not have real fears. I'm okay for the moment. I'm continuing doing my thing. I have enough people around me.

Q. You almost made it, close to victory. If you had won, how would you have recovered and how would you have been in the next few days to play?
STAN WAWRINKA: Good question. We'll never know. But I have had too many matches in the past. I know that when you win you recover much better, but I need a difficult victory to overcome this kind of thing.

But it's a difficult answer to give you, really.

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