Stanislas Wawrinka (born March 28, 1985 in Lausanne) is a Swiss male tennis player. As of January 2008, he is one of two Swiss players in the ATP top 30 (the other being World Number One Roger Federer). His career high was #28, achieved on January 7, 2008.
The surname Wawrinka is of Polish descent but Stanislas is only Polish by ancestry. His father Wolfram is German, and his mother Isabelle is Swiss. Both work on a biological farm helping handicapped people. Wawrinka's grandparents are Czech. He has one older brother Jonathan, who teaches tennis, and two younger sisters Djanaee and Naella, who are students and tennis players.
Wawrinka stopped attending regular schooling at age 15 to focus full-time on tennis. "It was the natural line for me, the right path to take with my tennis", he said. However, he continued his schooling by distance education with French organization CNED, which offered him greater flexibility with studying times.
He started playing international junior events at age 14 and entered the satellite circuit the following year. He compiled an outstanding junior career winning the 2003 French Open junior championships and finishing number 14 junior.
Wawrinka, one of four tennis-playing siblings, turned pro in 2002 at the age of 17. By the end of 2005 he hovered just outside the Top 50.
He currently lives in Saint-Barthélemy (10 minutes from Lausanne). His hobbies include movies and music. He considers clay his best surface and the backhand his best shot. He has a 2-3 career Davis Cup singles record in three ties. He has been coached since age eight by Dimitri Zavialoff.
In the 2007 Australian Open, Wawrinka reached the 3rd round to be beaten by second seed Rafael Nadal. He has so far never beaten Nadal, losing in Melbourne 6-2 6-2 6-2. He showed some impressive backhand skills, but was unable to deal with Nadal's heavy game.
In October 2006, he reached a career high No. 29 and had high hopes to reach the Top 20 in 2007. But those plans were put on hold when he suffered a three-month setback, tearing a tendon in his right knee while practicing for the Swiss Davis Cup team’s tie against Spain in February.
In the 2007 French Open, Wawrinka pushed No. 7 seed Ivan Ljubičić to four sets before falling in the second round. He also claimed wins over Guillermo Cañas and Juan Ignacio Chela en route to a meeting with Rafael Nadal in the finals of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart in July. There, Nadal barely edged the Swiss 6-4, 7-5.
In the 2007 US Open, Wawrinka reached the eighths of finals, a stage he had never reached previously in a Grand Slam event, notably defeating 25th seed Marat Safin (6-3 6-3 6-3) in an amazing show of talent in the second round. There, he was ousted by Juan Ignacio Chela at the end of an impressive 3h40 match (4-6, 6-2, 7-6 [6], 1-6, 6-4).
