‘I don’t really stand a chance against Novak Djokovic’, says Stan Wawrinka

Ewan West 06 Jul 2023 7:51 PM

Novak Djokovic reacts at Wimbledon

Stan Wawrinka has claimed he does not “really stand a chance” of defeating Novak Djokovic and has “zero opportunity” to win Wimbledon.

The three-time Grand Slam champion described the great Serbian as the “perfect player” and revealed he loves watching him as much as Roger Federer.

Wawrinka will face Djokovic in the third round of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships on Friday. The pair’s head-to-head at majors is 4-4, but this will be their first meeting on grass and at the All England Club.

Current world No 2 Djokovic has earned straight-set wins over Pedro Cachin and Jordan Thompson to reach the third round. Wawrinka, meanwhile, saw off Emil Ruusuvuori in straight sets in the opening round, before overcoming Tomas Martin Etcheverry in four sets on Thursday in a delayed second round contest.

Djokovic is a seven-time Wimbledon champion and has won the last four editions of the event, while world No 88 Wawrinka’s best result is reaching the quarter-finals twice (2014 and 2015).

Following his win against Etcheverry, the 38-year-old looked ahead to facing the 23-time Grand Slam champion and was full of praise for his rival.

“Have you seen him play (smiling)? Give me one weakness. I think he’s been an amazing player to play. He’s the perfect player. If you look, everything is so clean. He play the perfect shot in the right moment,” said the Swiss in his press conference.

“I love to watch him play, as much as I was loving to watch Roger play. Yeah, like the way he’s playing, like he’s serving amazing, he’s returning everything. He can do everything. I’m not surprised at all [by the number of Wimbledon titles he has won].”

Wawrinka also played down his chances at the tournament and for his match against the 36-year-old.

“There’s zero opportunity to win Wimbledon for me, I think. I’m happy to have won today again. I think it was great match. I’m playing better each match, and as I say, I think it’s an honour to play Novak here,” continued Wawrinka.

“I was missing that on my career to play him in the Grand Slam in Wimbledon. That’s the last I never played him, and it’s going to be a difficult challenge. I think it’s great to play him at least one time here on grass.

“It’s going to be the first time [at] Wimbledon. Of course I’m excited, and I’m happy to have the chance to play against him after we played in every other Grand Slam, a lot of other tournaments.

“So it’s going to be first time on grass, and it’s great. Hopefully I can make a competitive match, but if you will look at recent results, I don’t really stand a chance.”

Djokovic holds an overall 20-6 head-to-head lead over the Swiss, who defeated him in the finals of the 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open.