So, I was thinking about tennis, right? Weird thing to do at 3 a.m. when you can’t sleep, but hey, here we are. There’s this guy, Novak Djokovic—maybe you’ve heard of him? Kind of a big deal. Anyway, he’s had these epic battles on the court with all the usual suspects. Icons, legends, the whole nine yards. But here’s the kicker: Novak, the guy who’s handed out more beatdowns than I have socks (seriously, don’t ask), thinks Stan Wawrinka is the most underrated player of his era. Yup, Stan the Man.
Flashback to some tennis showdown in Madrid—Djokovic in front of the media. There’s this whole buzz about Wawrinka’s jaw-dropper against him during the 2015 French Open final. And Djokovic, in all his glory, admits Stan’s often overlooked. Which is wild considering Stan’s got this kinda arsenal—Olympic gold and three Grand Slams hanging out on his trophy shelf.
Now, Stan is no spring chicken anymore. Dude’s 40, which in the tennis world makes him like a tennis Yoda or something. It’s nuts. He’s had more surgeries than I’ve had Netflix subscriptions (and trust me, I cycle through those like nobody’s business). But Stan still shows up, practices early, does the whole grind, rain or shine. Kind of makes you think, right? Maybe it’s not just about beating the other guy. Maybe it’s about the slog, the hustle, the getting-up-when-they-keep-knocking-you-down kind of drive.
Djokovic talks about how Stan’s backhand is like poetry in motion. Makes me think of the first time I tried poetry and ended up with crumpled paper balls all over my floor. Not that it’s about me, but just saying, brilliance isn’t easy. Djokovic has this whole admiration thing going for Stan and Andy Murray too. Like, they’ve gone down to the Challenger level just to claw their way back. Novak’s like, “Nope, never did that, hope I never have to—but mad respect.”
Oh, and that 2015 final where Stan smashed Djokovic’s hopes of taking home the Parisian clay crown? Djokovic was actually glad he didn’t have to face Rafa Nadal for once. But then Stan, in all his colorful shorts glory, said, “Surprise!” and just took the match. Those shorts were legendary, by the way. Like, they looked like someone ate a bag of Skittles and then designed tennis apparel. Djokovic still ribs him about them. Ah, buddies.
Now, this rivalry is pretty lopsided—Novak’s won like 21 out of 26 of their face-offs. But Stan had that moment in 2016; US Open, under lights with New York’s finest watching, and he just dismantles Djokovic. Wawrinka said it was basically like running a marathon while juggling chainsaws, you know? Painful but kind of thrilling. Before the match, he was so nervous he was shaking like a leaf in autumn. Crikey.
So there he was, minutes before taking the court, crying it out in the locker room. Imagine that: a guy who’s won major titles, knowing full well he can conquer, but still human enough to have a meltdown before the fight. And how’d he handle the nerves? Well, his words—not mine—he says he needed to “put his shit together.” Gotta love the raw honesty.
Anyway, the crowd, the lights, and the stakes didn’t really matter once he got going. It was just tennis, where all that exists are you, your racket, and maybe that echoing thought of “don’t mess this up.” And that’s Stan. Just doing his thing, however delayed or chaotic it might seem. Ain’t that something?
