Reigning US Open champion Stan Wawrinka says that his wish for the 2017 is for his good friend and compatriot Roger Federer to be in tiptop shape.
“For tennis in general, that Roger will be back at the top with no injury. I think it’s always good for everybody when he’s playing. And for myself, I don’t have any – I’m working every day to try to make the best I can with my tennis career, so we’ll see how I can play next year,” Wawrinka said.
Federer intends to return to tennis competition by January of 2017 where he has confirmed his participation at the Hopman Cup.
As for Wawrinka, he’s had a stellar season highlighted by winning his third Grand Slam singles title in New York last month. Wawrinka won the US Open for the first time after defeating world number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic.
The Swiss world number three has already qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals and is competing at this week’s Shanghai Masters. He’s won more Grand Slam titles than ATP Masters 1000 as his lone Masters title was at Monte Carlo in 2014.
“Always enjoy coming back… The tournament is doing an amazing job for the players, not only on-site but also off-site, if we want to discover the city, if we want to go to nice restaurant,” he said. “So I always enjoy my time here.”
“It’s a Masters 1000, a strong draw like always, with almost everybody playing, so we need to start well,” Wawrinka said. “So far I’m quite happy with the practice.”
