NEW YORK—Stan Wawrinka has won just three of his 19 career matches against Roger Federer. But the No. 5 seed's win over Federer in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, along with his improved play in recent years, gives him confidence for their upcoming match in the U.S. Open semifinals.
Wawrinka also cites his 2013 hire of coach Magnus Norman, who has helped changed his tactics, as critical.
“I think the past three years, I get closer [to] him. My level improved a lot,” Wawrinka said about Federer. “I'm playing better tennis. So I was always really close from him, if we look Wimbledon last year. I will for sure need to play my best tennis. He's playing really well so far. He loves to play. He know how to play. He had some amazing match. It's going to be a big challenge. I think I'm ready.”
In 2014, Wawrinka won his first major title at the Australian Open. Two months later, Wawrinka beat Federer on clay in Monte Carlo to win the title. Federer then beat Wawrinka in four sets in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, and again in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals, fighting off match points to win, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (6).
The 17-time Grand Slam champion has beaten Wawrinka on clay in Rome this year, but the 30-year-old proceeded to beat Federer 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (4) at the French Open. Wawrinka went on to win the title.
Wawrinka has yet to beat Federer on hard courts, and the only other time he beat him was on clay in 2009.
"I improve so much the past few years it's also because I'm looking a lot what the top guys doing," Wawrinka said. "Novak [Djokovic], Roger, Rafa [Nadal]. I always try to see why they are so good. I'm not trying to do what they are doing. I'm just trying to see how they improve, how they can play so well, how can they play so fast, how they can do the passing shot and everything. For sure we all see what Roger is doing right now. It's quite impressive."