Stan Wawrinka is on a mission to defend his French Open title later this month, but the Swiss No. 2 believes he must perform well first at the Madrid Open and other tournaments leading up to the second Grand Slam event of the year.
Wawrinka opened about his upcoming title defense at Roland Garros, which kicks off on May 22. Wawrinka expressed his excitement to step on the clay courts of Paris, but the world No. 4 understands the pressure to play at a high level in the next three weeks to find success in the clay-season.
'It will be special to comeback in Paris," Wawrinka said, reports Tennis World USA.
"Pressure exists every year in Paris. I put myself through the pressure of playing well and it will not be different this year. I have to be focused to doing well in the next three weeks because I want to achieve a great result."
The quest to defend the French Open title would probably be more difficult than Wawrinka has anticipated, with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal emerging as the prohibitive favorites to win Roland Garros.
Djokovic despite a rare loss in Monaco, still holds an impressive 28-2 match record heading into the clay-season finale, while the King of Clay may have found his vintage form after back-to-back victories at the Monte Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open.
Meanwhile, Wawrinka has had a rough road heading into the ATP 1000 Masters event in the Spanish capital. After winning the Dubai Tennis Championships in February, Wawrinka suffered disappointing losses in Indian Wells and Miami against David Goffin and Andrey Kuznetsov, respectively.
He then lost to Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters, putting his chances of finishing within the top eight of the Emirates ATP Race to London for the World Tour Finals.
"Even if I have a lot of points to defend in this part of the season, the pressure is on all year long," Wawrinka said before the start of the Monte Carlo Masters last month. "My goal is to qualify for the [Barclays ATP World Tour Finals], so I have to win on a weekly basis."
While Madrid Open would serve as Wawrinka's training ground to defend his title at the French Open, the 31-year-old Swiss will surely be tested in a tournament where Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Nadal are the top favorites.
The fourth seed Wawrinka could open the tournament against Argentine Guido Pella or Australia's Nick Kyrgios, who are set to battle in the first round of the event. If Wawrinka gets past either of the aforementioned second round opponents, the Swiss could book a Round of 16 clash against Gael Monfils, who awaits the winner between Pablo Cuevas and Philipp Kohlschreiber.