Stan Wawrinka has created a path for tour's contenders to follow

TORONTO—More and more players are knocking on the door of the Big Four, but no one has kicked it down and barged in quite like Stan Wawrinka.

The 31-year-old from Switzerland has won two Grand Slams, as many as the other active non-Big Four players have won combined. He has reached No. 3 in the world, and currently sits at No. 4, the interloper amongst the traditional grouping of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the top of the rankings.

He has done it with his famed one-handed backhand, his formidable power from the baseline and the physical fitness to stay with the biggest guns through three, four and even five sets. But when questioned about what’s behind his leap into the upper levels of men's tennis, he did not select any of these qualities.

"It's been great these three years," Wawrinka told TENNIS.com at the Rogers Cup in Toronto in July. "For sure, the biggest is the confidence I got in my game in the important points. I know when I'm really confident with myself, I play better [and] put more pressure, and that's the way I need to beat the top players."

In some ways, it's natural that he identifies the mental side as the source of the shift. Confidence is what brought his game together, turning him from the inconsistent and formerly nerve-riddled talent into the free-swinging, huge-hitting “Stanimal,” as Federer has dubbed him.

Yet it is also circular. Confidence leads to winning, and winning leads to confidence. The process, as Wawrinka sees it, starts elsewhere.

"I think, in general, what's been important for me is hard work," he said. "I'm someone who's ready to put the hours [in] on the practice court. That's one of my biggest qualities as a tennis player."

It can also be long, he adds.

“It's not because you play one week of better practice that you're playing good straightaway,” he said. “You have to give yourself time."

In Wawrinka's case, a lot of time. The unheralded teenager didn’t burst onto the scene, rather floating between No. 30 and No. 60 in the rankings for a few years before breaking into the Top 10 in 2008. Subsequently, he settled back into the 20-30 range, and it seemed as if he might be stuck there.

Then he stepped on court against Novak Djokovic at the 2013 Australian Open. When he stepped off, having played five sets over four-plus hours, things looked very different.

Wawrinka didn't win that match, but he went toe to toe with the world No. 1 for so long and so brilliantly that he seemed to be a different player. A few months later, Sweden's Magnus Norman came on board as his coach, having resisted previous approaches from Switzerland's No. 2 player. Wawrinka credits Norman's small, but significant, technical and tactical changes with helping his increased self-assurance on court.

"I'm working to be a better tennis player," he said. "And then I have a great team around me ... When I took on Magnus Norman, he really [made] those little changes that give me more."

The following year, Wawrinka again took on Djokovic at the Australian Open. He beat the Serb in five thrilling sets in the quarterfinals, and after topping Tomas Berdych in the semis, defeated an injured Rafael Nadal in the final for his first major title. In 2015 he won the French Open, stunning Djokovic with a dominant display in the final. He won 10 of his 14 career titles during this period.

His breakthrough came at 28, an age when players are sometimes content to simply hang on rather than look to take their career to a new level. But Wawrinka says he wasn't put off by his years spent grinding away on tour, because he wasn't chasing achievements. He was just aiming to keep improving.

"But for me, even before, I already had an amazing career," he said. "I can look back and say, ‘OK, I did everything I could where I've been, and the best that I could.’"

Unlike some players, he welcomes the opportunity to take on the Big Four. His record against them is still largely lopsided—4-19 against Djokovic, 7-9 against Murray, 3-18 against Federer and 3-15 against Nadal­—but by putting himself in position to face them time and time again, and learning from it, he has come away with some huge victories.

"I just try to enjoy what I do," he said. "I play No. 1, No. 2—it's always been an amazing challenge."

His delayed surge offers Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic—now in their mid-twenties but still with Top 10 rankings—motivation. It also provides inspiration to promising up-and-comers. They, too, can climb up to the top of the game.

Wawrinka has freely admitted that he lacks the consistency of the Big Four, which he says is a significant reason for their dominance. But he’s taken positives from a middling 2016 season, by his standards. He took the title at his hometown event in Geneva, a small tournament that he says is "really important for me," and captured a 500-level title in Dubai.

He is keeping the same approach that got him to this point, and though he doesn't know whether he can move up much higher, he knows that he can turn it on at any time.

"It's a tough challenge, you know—I'm not younger," he said with a laugh. “…I know I can always play good in Grand [Slams]. I just try to keep going. I know I'm playing better and better. That doesn't mean I have better results, because everyone [keeps] improving. But as long as I'm happy with what I'm doing, [and] I'm enjoying what I'm doing, I'm going to keep [pushing] myself.”

With injuries and inconsistent play from the Big Four—as well as from other top players—Wawrinka sees others starting to make a move.

"Yeah, there are some players, [with] Raonic making the final of Wimbledon,” he said. “But it's tough to break through."

It sure is. But Wawrinka has created a path for them to follow.