Stanislas Wawrinka (French: [stanislas vav?i?

ka] born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss

professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis
Professionals (ATP) world No. 3 singles ranking for the first time on 27 January
2014.[3] His career highlights include three Grand Slam titles at the 2014
Australian Open, 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open, where he defeated the No. 1
player in the final on all three occasions, reaching the final of the 2017 French
Open, winning an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the Monte-Carlo Masters in
2014, and reaching three other finals at 2008 Rome, 2013 Madrid and 2017 Indian
Wells.

Wawrinka considers clay his best and favorite surface and his serve and backhand
his best shots. John McEnroe once said that Wawrinka has one of the most powerful
backhands ever, and in 2009 described him as having "the best one-handed backhand
in the game."[4] He has been described by The Economist as "Tennis's great
latecomer", owing to finding success late in his career.[5] Prior to the 2014
French Open, he requested and the ATP granted a formal change in his name from
"Stanislas Wawrinka" to "Stan Wawrinka", stating that he plans to use the
abbreviated name in tournament draws and prawrinka started playing tennis at the
age of eight, and played once a week until he was eleven, when he started to
practice three times a week. Wawrinka stopped attending regular schooling at age 15
to focus full-time on tennis. However, he continued his schooling by distance
education with the French organization CNED, which offered him greater flexibility.
[7][8]

Wawrinka turned professional in 2002 at the age of 17. He was coached from age
eight until June 2010 by Dimitri Zavialoff.[9]

Wawrinka is a three-time Grand Slam tournament winner, Olympic champion and Davis
Cup champion for his country. He achieved a Top 10 ranking by the ATP for the first
time on 12 May 2008, and first reached a career peak of world No. 3 on 27 January
2014, at the same time as he became the Swiss No. 1.

He has reached four Grand Slam singles finals in his career to date, winning three:
the 2014 Australian Open, the 2015 French Open and the 2016 US Open; each time he
defeated the reigning world No. 1 in the championship match (Rafael Nadal once and
Novak Djokovic twice, respectively). In doubles and team tennis for Switzerland, he
has won a gold medal in the men's doubles event at the 2008 Summer Olympics,
partnering with Roger Federer, and the Davis Cup in 2014. He played in the longest
doubles match in history at the 2013 Davis Cup, in a tie against the Czech
Republic, partnering with Marco Chiudinelli.[10]

2002�2003: Juniors and turning pro

Wawrinka started playing international junior events at age 14 and entered the
satellite circuit the following year. In 2002 Wawrinka became professional. In 2003
he had his first steps on the tour and ended the year ranked No. 169. He compiled
an outstanding junior career, winning the Junior French Open in 2003 and reaching
as high as No. 7 in the junior world rankings in June 2003.[11]

2004�2007: Early career and first title