"He has written history" says Stan Wawrinka on Rafael Nadal

Stan Wawrinka says Rafael Nadal can't be compared to other players because of his achievements and the fact they achieved it in spite of his numerous injuries.

The least healthy of the Big Three has been traditionally Rafael Nadal with the Spaniard starting to experience injuries very early in his career. The knees were a concern for a very long time and the injuries make Stan Wawrinka appreciate Nadal even more than he already does. Speaking about Nadal and the GOAT comparisons, Wawrinka said:

"Whatever happens we cannot compare Nadal with other tennis players, that's for sure. Nadal has been out for four, five or six months almost every two years of his career, and whether the injuries were serious or not, he always managed to come back. And once again at this stage and level, with the difficult last year that he had, of course, it’s exceptional, just like all his career."

Read also

"It was an incredible final" - Muguruza comments on Nadal - Medvedev Australian Open final

Wawrinka admitted that he sometimes feels as if tennis has been prewritten explaining:

“Sometimes, I feel, tennis is all written in advance. Before Australian Open I was talking to my coach, Dani [Vallverdu] and we discussed that Nadal will win Australian Open, because everything is written. He was doubtful but he’s an exceptional champion. He has 21 Grand Slams, let's see if others and Novak [Djokovic] will win more or not."

Wawrinka finished off with:

"It was brilliant to watch his win. I wasn't surprised but I admire that he is still able to do it and as I say I am not surprised because we know that he is well above everyone else. He's proved that he's able to do things throughout his career that others can't. We saw what happened to Nadal last year, a year full of injuries and it would have been impossible to say he will win Australian Open last year. But his win is a bit similar to that Federer’s in 2017 and he has written history.”