Stan Wawrinka can't wait to see Roger Federer back on tour in 2017

Stan Wawrinka has only one wish for 2017: seeing Roger Federer healthy after a very tough season for him. ´For tennis in general, I would like to see Roger back at the top with no injury. I think it’s always good for everybody when he’s playing´, he said during his pre-tournament press conference in Shanghai.

He also commented on how he feels heading to the Shanghai event: 'So far I’m quite happy with the practice. I would say (the courts are) a little bit faster than last year, but in general I’m feeling good. Always enjoy to come back. I think we have a chance that the tournament is doing amazing job first for the player, not only on-site but also off-site if we want to discover the city, if we want to go to nice restaurant. So I always enjoy my time here, for sure.'


He also commented on Ernests Gulbis' remarks. In May the Latvian had said that he was not respected like when he was two years ago in top 10 of the ATP Rankings. For Stan this is normal: 'If you win more probably your life changes', Wawrinka said to Schweizer Illustrierte. 'It's obvious that Federer has all the privileges, he earned them over the years. I won some Slams and a Davis Cup title, I have my place in tennis. But I am aware that between being top 5 and being a lower ranked player, there is a difference.'

He won three Grand Slams, a Davis Cup, he has been nominated Swiss athlete of the year. Why does he keep playing? 'Because I like to do it. I live of the sport and I am very lucky. I like to practice and to compete either if I win or lose. There is no reason why I should stop now, although I am 31. At this age you are old for the sport but very young in life. I want to enjoy as much as possible.'

His Weight is 81kg and is 1.83 meters high. Asked if he took in consideration to be thinner in order to be faster, Wawrinka said: 'Obviously you have to be very fast at these levels. I spoke about it with nutritionists and my fitness trainer Pierre Paganini, but for my tennis and for my speed of shots I need a certain weight.'

Djokovic is six Grand Slam titles away from breaking Roger Federer's record. Asked what would mean for Roger to see it happen, Wawrinka replied: 'First of all we need to say that Djokovic still has to win five Majors and it's not granted that he does it. We were saying the same about Nadal Two years ago. It's not worth to speak about it now.'

tennisworldusa.org

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Roger Federer by © Shelby Knick

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Roger Federer at Paris Fashion Show

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Roger Federer to play Hopman Cup in January

PERTH, Australia -- Roger Federer will compete at the Hopman Cup in January as part of his buildup to the Australian Open.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion will join Belinda Bencic for Switzerland at the eight-team tournament, which runs from Jan. 1-7.

Federer missed the second half of the 2016 season to fully recover from his knee surgery, which he had last February, and had targeted the Australian Open for his return. His last match was a semifinal loss at Wimbledon, and he did not compete at the Rio Olympics and the US Open.

Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova will return to defend the title they won this year when they became the first Australians since Mark Philippoussis and Jelena Dokic in 1999 to win the Hopman Cup.

"Australia hadn't won it for a long, long time, so, to be coming back there, it's pretty exciting to be defending the title," Kyrgios said.

Also in the field will be Jack Sock and Coco Vandeweghe from the United States, and Petra Kvitova and Adam Pavlasek from the Czech Republic.

espn.co.uk

Memorable Martina Moment: 2016 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles

Doubles field set for Singapore, Sania Mirza & Martina Hingis to play together at the event

The doubles field for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global is now set after events in Beijing saw the final four qualifying berths decided on Wednesday.

Defeat for Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova in the Chinese capital confirmed that Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova, Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan, Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, and Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova will all be heading to Singapore for the season finale.

The four join earlier qualifiers Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, Martina Hingis and Mirza and Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the eight-team knockout draw.

There is a wealth of experience amongst the final batch of qualifiers, with only Goerges and Pliskova making their Singapore debut. Two-time major winners Hlavackova and Hradecka were runners-up at the Finals in 2012, before reaching the semifinals on their return in 2015. The Chan sisters were also semifinalists 12 months ago, while Babos and Shvedova, have also qualified in the past, albeit with other partners.



TEAM


1

CAROLINE GARCIA / KRISTINA MLADENOVIC (FRA/FRA) - Q


2

MARTINA HINGIS / SANIA MIRZA(SUI/IND) - Q

3

EKATERINA MAKAROVA / ELENA VESNINA (RUS/RUS) - Q


4

BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS / LUCIE SAFAROVA (USA/CZE) - Q


5

TIMEA BABOS / YAROSLAVA SHVEDOVA (HUN/KAZ) - Q


6

CHAN HAO-CHING / CHAN YUNG-JAN (TPE/TPE)- Q


7

ANDREA HLAVACKOVA / LUCIE HRADECKA (CZE/CZE) - Q


8

JULIA GOERGES / KAROLINA PLISKOVA (GER/CZE) - Q


9

XU YI-FAN / ZHENG SAISAI(CHN/CHN)


10

RAQUEL ATAWO / ABIGAIL SPEARS (USA/USA)

wtatennis.com

Hall of Fame Ambassador Martina Hingis Leads China Open Junior Clinic

BEIJING, China - 2015 China Open doubles champion and Global Ambassador for the International Tennis Hall of Fame Martina Hingis headlined a youth clinic featuring the nation's top junior prospects.

"Tennis has definitely come to China," the Swiss Miss remarked in a press conference. "I played in Guangzhou, I played in Wuhan last week, now Beijing, then Tianjin.

"You can see the improvement over the past 10, 15 years, many more academies, and more top players. How many more will come out of this country? The kids today, you see how much better they are. The infrastructure of the country, there are so many opportunities and possibilities."

The junior clinic was a collaborative effort of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the China Open, the Chinese Tennis Association, and Hingis herself. The young players in the clinic were gathered by the coaches at Star River Professional Tennis Club, which is the first professional tennis club in mainland China.

"I always say, I wish we had one of these stadiums in Switzerland," Hingis continued, referencing the National Tennis Stadium housing the China Open. "But here they're like mushrooms popping up everywhere. Hopefully this will help, having the right infrastructure, the coaches, the possibilities will happen to have many more like Li Na and Shuai Peng, many more players like that in the future."

Offering technical advice, the 2013 International Hall of Fame Inductee also gave a historical perspective to the clinic, aiming to impart a love of tennis history in the hopes that the youth in attendance might look back on how far the game has come.

"Tennis history, it's always been very important to me. My mom always encouraged me to learn about Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, who invented the WTA Tour, she started the tour, all of that history," said Hingis. "You have to go and check out the Hall of Fame. Definitely if you're in America, it's a beautiful place to visit and a great place to learn about our tennis history."

wtatennis.com