US Open: Against Federer, Wawrinka must play his best ever match on hard-courts

Having waltzed through the quarter-finals in some style, Roger Federer and his Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka are set to play each other in the semi-finals of the 2015 US Open on Saturday. The tasty all-Swiss battle pits the only two players in the draw who are peaking at the right time in the tournament - Federer’s yet to drop a set and Wawrinka has dropped just one. But Federer has owned Wawrinka over the course of their careers, winning 16 while losing just three of their matches. [caption id=“attachment_2428600” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  There is no doubts who enjoys the better head to head between Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, but the gap is closing down. AFP[/caption] “I don’t want to know the stats!” Wawrinka said before he could be asked about Federer following his quarter-final win over Kevin Anderson. While the ‘Stanimal’ may not want to know, that shouldn’t stop us from breaking down how these two have fared against each other. Given Federer’s dominance, it’s no surprise that the numbers make him look good. On hard-courts, he owns a flawless record against Wawrinka, having won all 11 of their matches. Not a stat Wawrinka would want to be reminded of heading into a big game. Wawrinka’s three wins over Federer have all come on the slower clay courts, but even there the Fed owns a 4-3 advantage. This will be their sixth meeting in Grand Slams with Federer holding a 4-1 advantage. In their first three meetings, Federer did not lose a single set. That one win for Wawrinka, however, was in the quarter-finals of the 2015 French Open, where he blew Federer away in straight sets. Last year the two played a tempestuous match in the World Tour Finals, with Wawrinka losing a nerve-wracking semi-final 4-6 7-5 7-6. The third set saw some heated exchanges between two players who have been friends more than foes over their careers. After the match, John McEnroe said “Something went on in the locker room, there was a long talk between the players that went on well into the night.” The players quickly brushed off the bust-up and a week later combined to win the Davis Cup for Switzerland – a trophy that had been missing from Federer’s cabinet until then. The highlight of the tie was their doubles match where the Swiss duo played some exhilarating tennis together – putting to rest stories of a rift. Their career numbers aside, Wawrinka has showed a marked improvement over the last few years. He has won two Grand Slams – French Open, 2015 and Australian Open 2014 since Federer won his last in 2012. That improvement is reflected in the numbers of sets Wawrinka has been able take off Federer over the last three years – 9 out 21 compared to 3 from the first 29. The gap, then, is much closer than it used to be and a Wawrinka victory is not out of the realm of possibility. But Federer hasn’t lost a set in the 10 matches he’s played since losing to Novak Djokovic in the finals of Wimbledon. After beating Dokovic in the French Open final, Wawrinka said “I played my best match in a Grand Slam tournament. I played my best ever match on clay.” He will likely have to play his best ever match on hard courts to defeat Federer. Editor’s note: The article previously said Wawrinka has not dropped a set in this tournament - in fact he dropped one against Donald Young in the round of 16. [caption id=“attachment_2428678” align=“alignleft” width=“702”]  A look at the Federer-Wawrinka head-to-head.[/caption]