With Stan Wawrinka (39) and Gaël Monfils (37), two friends are dueling for a place in the third round at Wimbledon.
76 years – the second round duel between Stan Wawrinka and Gaël Monfils on Wednesday is rich in tennis experience. The encounter between the two good friends promises to be a great spectacle – and it will only produce winners. Even the loser will be happy.
Stan has helped me with many things, including my personal life.
Wawrinka and Monfils belong to the rare breed of tennis professionals who meet more often in private than on the tournament courts of the world. They have only played against each other officially six times and won three times each. However, they have trained together or done other things together far more often.
“He’s practically my neighbor,” says the 39-year-old from Vaud. “And one of my best friends in the tennis world.” Monfils, of course, doesn’t disagree. It’s always “cool” to play against Wawrinka. He’s his buddy, but more than that. “He’s helped me with a lot of things, including in my personal life,” enthused the Frenchman, who is one and a half years younger. No matter what happens, they have fun on the court. “And laugh together.”
Neither one nor the other is a lawn specialist
This is the first time the two have met on grass, so it is difficult to predict. Monfils has been much more successful this year and has already fought his way back to 33rd place in the ATP rankings after falling out of the top 100 for a while. Grass is his weakest surface, and in 12 attempts at Wimbledon he has only reached the round of 16 once.
Live notice
Open box Close box
Follow the match between Stan Wawrinka and Gaël Monfils on Wednesday from around 5:00 p.m. on SRF two.
Wawrinka managed to reach the quarterfinals on the “hallowed turf” twice, even though this was nine and ten years ago respectively. The French-speaking player won his first match against the Englishman Charles Broom in three sets, but also showed a few weaknesses against the number 248 in the world. He will probably have to improve.
We know each other inside and out. We usually have a big fight, but there won’t be any surprises.
With Monfils, you never really know what to expect. But there is one player he won’t be able to surprise: Wawrinka. “We know each other inside and out,” emphasises the three-time Grand Slam champion. “We usually have a big fight, but there won’t be any surprises. The deciding factor will be who plays better, who can take the initiative and beat the other.”
Even though the two didn’t pull off the same big fight at Wimbledon as they did at other major tournaments, thanks to their popularity with the fans they will be able to play on the big court, Court No. 2, on Wednesday. One thing is clear to Wawrinka: “The loser will be happy for the winner.” That’s also a rare occurrence on the highly competitive tennis tour.
2024-07-02 21:43:00
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